After Loki
by Barton-Lover
Summary: It has only been a few days after the Manhattan incident and clean-up has begun. But when the Council considers clean-up as removing Agent Barton from service, permanently, the Avengers must help keep him safe. Can they keep their new friend safe when he is slowly beginning to believe that the Council may be right? Clint Barton/Hawkeye
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers.**

**Warnings: spoliers for the movie and possibly some for future movies.**

**This is my first Avengers fanfic and it is not betaed. I have seen all the movies and tend to look up the soon to be released movies. I'll try and be good and stick with only released info but no promises. But for now, enjoy!**

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Nick Fury was stunned. That was the only word for it. Stunned beyond belief. His one good eye stared at the blackened faces of The Council as his mind tried to play catch up. Even after working underneath these people for so long, Fury couldn't stop himself. He wasn't fast enough to block off his emotions like a trained S.H.I.E.L.D agent would. Nope, his mind just tried to focus one the words they had said. But he couldn't have heard them right. There was just no way. Someone had to be playing a prank. Sadly, these people were too serious for any type of pranks. These people ordered the nuke attack that ultimately (thanks to Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man) saved the day.

"Excuse me?" Fury questioned when his voice finally returned from his shocked silence. It had taken a full minute, a testament to how much their comment bothered him. But, they weren't trained to notice little things like that. They simply thought it was Fury's attitude that made him falter. So they pushed more. A Council member to his right sighed deeply. Centering his one good eye on the person, Fury waited for an answer. He just hoped that it was one that he wanted to hear.

"We understand that Agent Barton has been a good asset but this... situation, cements the fact that he can't be trusted," the member said. Fury gaped. This was not happening. It just couldn't be. Their order had been true. Fury's eye darkened as rage settled into his once shocked form. This was worse then them wanting to nuke Manhattan. "You must understand the idea of wanting only trust worthy employees. Especially considering your line of work."

"Agent Barton is more than just a good asset. He is a damned ass good agent. And what you are talking about isn't normal termination," Fury mentioned, trying to get to their more human side. But after dealing with them for so long the old Director wondered if they even were human. Another person made a similar sighing sound but it was almost more grunting. Fury looked in that direction now. His rage was growing.

"That one agent put over two hundred agents in medical and killed over thirty in just under three days before getting back under control. And we're not even sure if he is completely under our control. He could still be a spy for Loki," the person said. Fury was so angered that he had to turn from the Council. He couldn't understand why they were doing this. It was like they wanted to blame everything on Agent Barton. And knowing that just made the man want to tell them just where to shove the stick that had previously been up their asses.

"We trained him to withstand normal situations. Loki was far from normal!" Fury snapped.

"Our point, Director. Agent Barton was trained for this," someone said. Fury snarled.

"Not for Loki's magic! Hell, we cleared Dr. Eric Selvig. Why is our own agent getting different treatment?" Fury questioned after a moment. Silence was his answer. Glad that he finally stunned them, Fury focused a heated glare on them. The same type of glare he had used only a few days before during Manhattan. No one seemed really fazed by the glare but his words struck a cord. With a small smirk that the Council couldn't see, Fury continued. "My agent will continue working unless Psych does not clear him anytime in the near future. I will personally hold a trail to see if our agent in fine. Until then, you will have to wait. But, if you have a more valid reason for his termination, then I will consider it. For now though, fuck off!"

With that the old Director hit the end call button and the screens went blank. A pause later, Fury sighed deeply. Trouble was brewing and he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop it. It all almost made him feel for Agent Barton. The poor guy had already faced enough pain and betrayal in his life, he didn't need more. But Fury had done all he could. Feeling a little calmer, he spun on his heel and began to storm out of the room. Waiting at the door was none other than Maria Hill.

Her short black hair was hanging partially in her face. It blocked her brown eyes just enough that for those who didn't know her wouldn't see the concern behind those colored orbs. But she stood there, in full, clean uniform, waiting for her director to come out of the meeting. That was what really let Fury know how concerned she was. Nevertheless, Fury almost smiled at her but held it back at the last second.

"What did they say?" Hill asked with little to no normal sound of submissive behavior behind the tone. Fury frowned at her lack of protocol but remembered her current friendship that was blooming with one of the parties involved in the previous discussion. Wanting very much to just ignore her, Fury tried to act like she said nothing but it was not meant to be. Not only did she block his current path, but her slight tilt of the head and questioning gaze made the old agent feel the need to tell her. "Sir?"

"They want to terminate Agent Barton," was all Fury answered with. Hill hesitated before stepping out of the way and allowing Fury to pass. With a grateful nod, Fury began walking away but Hill was beside him in seconds.

"Understandable based on his recent actions," Hill tried saying to calm Fury down more. All that did was enrage the Director all over again. He stopped and spun on his agent, an evil glare in his eye. Hill, who was normally never one to receive such a glare, stopped and thought it over once more. Realization dawned on her face and Fury nodded, knowing she understood him better now. "Oh."

Fury turned back around then and proceeded to walk to the bridge. Hill stayed frozen to the spot for a few seconds before rushing after her boss. Neither spoke for at least a good minute but Hill's mind was quickly piling up questions. And it wasn't going to be too long before she burst. Having recently gotten friendly with Agent Romanoff, Hill felt it was now her duty to find out what was going to happen next.

"Are you going to inform the Avengers?" Hill finally questioned. Fury sighed deeply. It was now that he was beginning to regret not keeping track of everyone after Thor took Loki back to Asgard. But he was right, they all needed time off. Especially Agents Barton and Romanoff. After all, their handler of over ten or so years just died. "I can still reach Natasha."

Fury gave her a curious glance. True, he had known they were getting close but he never knew how close. If Agent Romanoff was willing to still speak to Hill on her vacation, it must mean things are serious. He smiled at that and nodded. Hill quickly took out her S.H.I.E.L.D issued phone but then paused.

"Sir, should I tell her everything?"

"Just let her know to watch out for Barton."

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**Good? I hope so. More reviews tend to lead to faster updates! But for now, I wait.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. Thank you all so much for the follows, reviews and favorites! Made me feel really happy and work harder on the next chapter. Well, actually I have the third chapter done now but won't post it until I finish the fourth. Either way, here is chapter two!**

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Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye) sighed deeply as he stepped out from the 68 degree temp inside compared to the 87 degree temp outside. Being down here in Miami at the beach was nice, but Clint tended to want to stay on land more than the water. So the oceanfront property (owned by none other than Tony Stark) was rather waisted on him. Of course Natasha (a.k.a. Black Widow) always held a small fondness for swiming in the ocean. So she was enjoying the place much more then him. Right now, he could just about see her diving into the water some good distance away. From her movements, Clint could see that she was happy and enjoying the ocean. It made him sigh. There wasn't really anything but archery that made him let loose like Natasha was. And sadly, a shoulder injury (from crashing through a window onto his quiver) made him receive a ban for now. So, his troubled thoughts of Loki and Coulson's death could not be erased. More than anything, he wanted to shoot just to stop feeling guilty.

"You okay?" asked a newly familiar voice to his right. Not at all surprised to see her here, Clint forced himself to turn and smile at Stark's CEO and just announced girlfriend, Pepper Potts. Since Natasha and Clint arrived at Tony's less than modest home a few days ago, JARVIS (Tony's AI) had alerted the owner of the so called break-in and now mostly all of the Avengers were there. Only Thor (who was still in Asgard) and Steve Rogers (a.k.a. Caption America) was missing. Steve's road across the US seemed to be taking longer than the super soldier expected.

"I'm good," Clint found himself lying. Since getting released from Loki's mind control, that's just about all the archer could do to keep away from Psych. If they ever got ahold of him now, he'd be screwed for life. Thankfully, most of the others were still busy dealing with their own past mistakes to really wonder if Clint was indeed okay. Pepper, the only one without an issue, was his biggest worry. If she really got to know him, Clint was sure she'd send him to get checked up on. So, because of that fact, he never truely focused his gaze on her. And that was how he noticed Pepper had the grill lite and ready for food. But, Tony had previously mentioned, off handily, that Pepper can't cook anything edible, and neither could he. So the cooking was left to Bruce Banner (a.k.a. Hulk), Natasha or himself. All very well self taught cooks. "You cooking?"

Pepper looked momentarily confused. Until she noticed the grill prepped and ready to go. She laughed while shaking her head and backing away. Clint smirked at her reaction. Very rarely did he surprise someone with just simple words. Normally it was always attached to his sudden apperance or an arrow/bullet imbedded somewhere in their bodies. "No! I was getting it ready for Bruce! He's making us burgers and hot dogs for lunch."

Clint nodded as Pepper graced him with one of her smiles. The smile that kind of told Clint that she knew something was wrong. It was this smile that normally graced Tony's actions, not his own. And right now it worried him. He had, only seconds before, made eye contact with her. But was that enough for her to see all his problems? Thankfully, that was when Bruce came out with a huge plate filled with uncooked food. Clint quickly noted that it was piled higher than ever before. Nearly triple what the trio normally made for the small group. Bruce smiled lightly to Clint and Pepper, to which both returned one, but then Pepper noticed the enormous amount of food.

"Dear me! Is Tony planning a party without my okay?" she asked. Bruce laughed as Clint faded back, going to use her distraction as a chance to get away.

"No. Heard that Captain America was on the way. And after shwarma, I know that man's appetite is as large as my own. So we don't want to run out," Bruce mentioned sounding more relaxed than ever. That might have to do with Tony finding a new experiment idea and so he tried to release the Hulk less often now. Why Bruce hadn't just let loose to stop Tony by this point, Clint could not fathom. But, he was somewhat glad that he hadn't. Based on Natasha quick reflection from the Helicarrier, it might not always be a good thing to see the Hulk.

Clint used that moment to then quickly spin on his heel and jump down to the beach before Pepper or Bruce could even notice he was distancing himself from them. As his bare feet touched the hot sand, Clint already was starting to go for a run. Normally, he would never do something like this but recently he had taken a liking to running from his thoughts and the other Avengers. Many people had told Clint that running was a good way to think but Clint always found his mind clearing and simply focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. He almost felt like he was training, at times. And that wasn't good for it tended to bring up old memories of Coulson when he finally would stop.

It was a good thirty minutes later until Clint realized he was now missing lunch back at Stark's house. Slowing down to a walk, Clint turned and walked backwards away from the new Avengers hang-out. As much as he wanted to go back for Bruce's cooking, he really didn't want to deal with Natasha's 'are you okay' looks. She was too intuitive and Clint wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up his feel good appearance. Especially concidering just how well she was doing. It mostly felt like a slap in the face. But, if he kept on avoiding her, Natasha would really know how fucked up he was.

"Fuck," Clint cursed as he went to turn around but instead his hawk-like eyes picked up on startling red rushing closer to him. Natasha was looking for him. Groaning now, Clint stopped walking away and watched as his partner approached. It took him only a few more seconds to see that she had covered her sexy but rather small bathing suit with a light cover-up dress. Figuring she did that to only have to protection of her gun and possibly phone, Clint didn't feel as if he need to worry that she was concerned for him.

"Clint!" Natasha called from a good distance away. Clint sighed before walking toward her still running form. His earlier assumption was wrong. From where she called out, Clint could only assume she had spotted him but couldn't tell that he had stopped and waited for her. She only ever called out to him like that if she thought he was in danger. As the pair got closer to each other, Clint felt like he should just turn back now and not deal with Natasha. But it was too late. She was close enough now to slow down to a walk and her eyes flickered across his form to see what was going on. "Hey. You went for a run?"

Clint simply nodded. He didn't want to risk opening his mouth and ruining everything right now. Natasha's question had been double laced. There was the obvious one and a hidden one, for she knew how much he didn't like going for a run. So her hidden question had been 'are you alright?' Thankfully, she took his nod as an acceptance for both questions. Her eyes quickly began scanning his features and stance for any signs of an issue. But Clint had gotten much better at hidding his emotions. Ever since he found out about Coulson, Clint was able to mask his feelings. Sadly now, he was just so tired. Tired of trying to act normal. Tired of acting like he wasn't blaiming himself. And mostly tired of dealing with everyone around him.

"We're missing lunch," she mentioned, a sign that she could tell he had lied. Natasha knew that he hadn't been eating that much since the attack. So, declaring that he was missing food was now turning into a question saying 'are you lying to me?' Clint shrugged as he debated how to really answer her.

"Not hungry," was his final decision. Natasha tilted her head as his stomach let out a growl of disapproval. Clint almost audibly groaned. He just confirmed he was lying. Why did his body have to betray him? It was already bad enough that Pepper was starting to see how messed up he is, now Natasha knows he is freely lying. The only thing that could make his day worse was if Tony tried calling him gay because the billionaire claimed that if he hadn't fucked Natasha yet, then he must be. "Not in the mood for Stark, okay?"

"I'm not in the mood to deal with him but I still eat food. You've been missing how many meals?" Natasha questioned. Clint turned to face the ocean now. He missed every meal. To be honest he had only grabbed some snacks to munch on last night and before that was Shwarma with everyone else. The worst part... Before shwarma was a small peanut butter and jelly sandwich four hours before Loki took over his mind. Thinking back on it now, Clint wondered why Loki never fed them all. But as his mind focused more on the memories, Clint recalled seeing some personal eating. Then it hit him. Only people under Loki's control didn't eat because the god never ate himself. "Clint?"

"Fine, I'll go back with you," Clint conceded, tired of fighting with her. Really, he had wanted to say something like 'leave me alone woman', but the additude he used in the first word seemed to make his comment perfectly clear. Natasha's raised eyebrows showed that she understood and was shocked. Clint had never treated her so harshly. And it now made her wonder if Loki's control had changed her partner permanently. Knowing he fucked up, Clint groaned and raised a hand to rub at his eyes, forehead and temples. "Look, Tasha, I'm sorry I'm being such a prick. I'm just tired."

"I thought you were sleeping fine?" Natasha mentioned, her concern growing. Clint turned away from her and began walking. After a few seconds, the archer realized he was walking toward the ocean. Spinning back around, he noted that Natasha only shifted slightly so as to better watch him.

"Sometimes. Not often enough," Clint half lied. In actuality, he barely slept more than an hour and took many naps to hide that fact from her. But that wasn't nearly enough. Especially now that he had to avoid more than just Natasha or... Clint frowned as his mind focused once again on his now deceased handler. Could it really have only been three days since he died? Was it seriously only five days ago that Clint was unmade? "God, Nat! I just want it all to be over."

"All of what?" Natasha lightly pressed. She didn't want to scare him off now. This was the first time he mentioned something was bothering since the medical room. Clint spun away for a moment and she feared that he was clamming up again. But when he slowly turned back to look at her again, his eyes looked thousands of years older than they had only seconds before. His wall was finally down.

"The guilt," Clint began but was stopped by the sounds of ringing. Natasha groaned as she went and dug her phone out of a concealed pocket. Her eyes watching Clint with an apologetic look until they focused on the name of the caller. All she could do was grimace. Clint, who had been using these precious moments to rebuild his wall, smirked. That particular grimace was only reserved for one person; Maria Hill. Though they had been getting along better, Natasha still didn't fully care for the other woman. Hell, she almost felt like chucking her phone in the ocean to avoid answering the call. But, she had been having a bad feeling all day and now she wanted to speak to Hill. "Gonna answer?"

"Yeah. Meet me back at Stark's?" she asked while looking up at him. His wall was now fully erected again. The sight made her want to scream. But all he did was simply nod and walk away and she let him. When he was out of hearing range, Natasha answered. "This better be good."

"Are you with Agent Barton?" Hill responded, sharply. Too sharply. Almost as if she was under orders to call Natasha. Feeling very vunerable, Natasha tensed and focused on Clint's retreating form. "Natasha! This is serious! Are you with Barton?"

"No. And before you ask, I won't tell you where he is," Natasha snarkily replied. Hill's stressed sigh made the assassin pause. Could she really be calling for something other than debrieffing Clint? "Also, you should note that we both found the tracers in our phones, bags and weapons. All of which are removed and destroyed."

"Good," was Hill's answer back. Natasha's lower jaw dropped. Did she really hear that right?

"Good?" she muttered before looking for Clint again. He was already gone from her sight. It relieved some of her stress. Until Hill spoke again.

"Yes. Barton's in trouble."

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**So, did you like? Am I evil? Tell me anything! Just remember, more reviews, happier writer, faster the ideas hit me and faster I can post! So drop me a review please! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for still following me! It means so much! I'm glad you all like the story! ^_^ Well, here is some more!**

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"What? You can't be serious!" Tony Stark's obnoxious voice nearly screamed into Clint's ears as he got closer to the house. Everyone was outside of the porch, enjoying Bruce's cooking. But, his grayish blue eyes caught sight of something different. An added person. Blond hair. Tall. Muscular. Then Clint realized it must be Cap. "How could you have not heard of the Hunger Games? It's all over the place! What about Twilight? No? Harry Potter? Jeez, you really need a guide!"

"Leave him be, Tony. He doesn't have to enjoy the same things as you," Pepper declared. Steve nodded his thanks to her but Tony never backs down that easily. Bruce could even see the upcoming argument. The scientist sighed deeply as he wondered if he should get involved. Meanwhile, Clint decided to skirt around the edges, waiting for someone to notice him. In the meantime, he'd enjoy Tony being Tony.

"I'm not saying that! He hasn't heard of them! God, I never read Twilight but I know it's about a stupid average girl falling in love with a stupid handsome guy!" Tony cried.

"Uh, actually Bella is a human girl who falls for the vampire, Edward. But she also falls for an old friend who ends up being a werewolf," Bruce meekly mentioned. All eyes focused on him with mixed emotions of shock, amusement, and surprise. Bruce quickly went defensive. "I had a lot of free time!"

"O-Kay... That's besides the point. From now on, we are having team movie night to help Capsicle catch up!" Tony announced. Pepper rolled her eyes. Steve seemed to want to bash his head on the table. And Bruce looked mildly amused.

"Does that mean we are watching the old classics like: Pinky, All that Heaven Allows, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, On the Beach-"

"What the hell? Since when are those classics, Bruce?" Tony snapped. "No, we're gonna watch Halloween, The Birds, Psycho, Cinderella, Friday the 13th, Batman-"

"Really, who wants to watch a billionaire turned super hero?" Bruce mocked. Tony settled a slight glare on the man as Pepper and Steve started laughing. "Seriously, only horror?"

"I threw in Cinderella."

"Seriously, only horror?" Bruce joked.

"Hardy, har har," Tony began but was again interrupted.

"I think each person should make a contribution to what movie will play. That way Steve doesn't get stuck following one person's preference," Pepper said. With that the conversation died down. Everyone agreed with Pepper, except Tony. But his fight never got started because they all turned to Clint as he hit the bottom steps making the wood creak as he placed his weight down on it's aged frame. Everyone turned to look at him. He gave a sheepish smile and nodded a hello. "Did Natasha find you?"

"Yeah. She's dealing with a phone call. Should be here soon," Clint responded. Pepper nodded and slowly, the group went back to eating. Except Steve, who stood and walked to face Clint at the steps. With a smile, the old man held out a hand. Clint looked up into the captain's blue eyes and saw honesty and kindness. Feeling no threat from him, Clint grasped the awaiting hand and the two shook.

"Steve Rogers. Didn't get an official introduction before," Steve explained. Clint smiled.

"Clint Barton," Clint replied as the shake finally ended. Nodding in greeting, Steve shifted to allow the archer room to get further onto the porch. As Clint got up, he noticed that nearly all the food was gone. His surprise wasn't hidden in time for Bruce's welcoming gaze. Focusing on the doctor, Clint saw the sheepishness settle over the once relaxed form. Deciding it was as good as any to liven up, Clint smirked. "Jeez doc, thought you cooked more so we wouldn't run out."

"Uh," Bruce called as Tony's laughter burst through. Now fully embarrassed, Bruce looked away from the archer. Clint flashed a glance at Steve and noticed he seemed rather red as well. Then his eyes hit Pepper. She was redder than either man. Raising an eyebrow, Clint waited. "We were really hungry and the food has been out for almost an hour and a half."

"No worries," Clint laughed, allowing everyone but Tony to relax. The billionaire hadn't been fazed by his accusation. Heck, he rather much enjoyed it. Only a minute more passed before Steve and Clint settled into some chairs around the table. Once down, Clint reached for a dog and began to load it up with as much toppings as possible.

"Hell, guess we weren't the only hungry ones!" Tony declared as everyone watched Clint expertly drop more and more on his hot dog. When it seemed like nothing else could be added, Clint dropped some more items and then paused to look at his masterpiece. "Now, eat that without making a mess."

"Twenty bucks says I can," Clint countered. Tony smirked as the two looked over the dog. "One drop of anything on the plate and you win. Nothing falls, I win."

"Deal. Go ahead. You're gonna fail," Tony mentioned. Clint snorted, forgetting easily that this group did not know him. Very slowly and carefully, Clint picked up the dog. He handled it like a bomb about to go off. Showmanship, really. Clint had made bigger dog messes in his past and never made a mess. This dog would be a cake walk. And only a minute later proved that, when the dog was gone and no trace of it ever existing. Tony's jaw looked broken. Bruce seemed impressed. Steve was a mix of awe and disgust. And at some point Pepper vanished.

"Fay uf," Clint announced with a mouth still full of dog. Tony's jaw set.

"Double or nothing!" he snapped in awe and admiration. Clint swallowed and smiled before working on loading up another dog. As he finished loading the dog, Clint wondered what made him originally not want to hang with Tony. It was fun messing with the genius. But this time, when he picked up the dog, a noise made him drop the whole thing. "Ha! I win!"

"Shut up," Clint ordered as he felt like someone else was watching him. Something was wrong. His eyes flickered across the beach and the surrounding woods nearby but nothing looked out of place. At Clint's words, Steve and Bruce tensed but Tony frowned.

"You can't tell me to shut up in my own house!" he snapped. Clint then focused a glare on the immature man. That was enough to silence him. Tony could now tell that something was up. He may not know what, but he wasn't one to question the awareness of others. Clint stood and focused on the woods behind Steve, who had been sitting across from him. The super soldier stood as well while Bruce seemed to cower in the man's shadow. Tony stayed completely still.

"What's going on?" Pepper questioned a second later when she reemerged from the house with some fresh drinks. Right away Steve and Clint waved for her to go inside while Tony jumped to his feet to push her back. Surprised, she dropped the drinks and the glasses shattered on the wood. No one but Pepper seemed fazed. She cried out in shock but aloud Tony to shove her back. The two then stood in the doorway.

"Should we suit up?" Tony whispered, feeling unnerved by the tense stand off going on. Steve, who had been trying to focus on something in the woods, deferred to Clint. But the archer's gray-blue eyes were still manicly shifting about. He couldn't find what had made the noise. Normally, by now, he'd relax though right now he can't. The noise wasn't normal Miami noise. It was the sounds of an assassin getting into position.

"I can't tell yet," Clint answered as he glared at the woods. He needed something. Anything to go off of. Even just a glint of sun off a sniper scope. But his eyes were failing him right now. And if his eyes weren't up to par, it could spell the end of him. At least, that's how it used to be. When he was alone, Clint had to protect all sides of him but now, the other Avengers could help. Too bad he wasn't sure if he could trust them just yet.

"Clint!" Natasha suddenly screamed from up the beach. Everyone focused on her. She was running as fast as she could and, almost, looked petrified. "Udaipur!"

Knowing that that was the only mission were Clint had actually been the target, he ducked down as something hit the table where he had been standing. Bruce spun around as Steve leapt over the table, both putting themselves in the line of sight. Pepper screamed in shock as Tony pushed her further into the house. He watched as Clint slid under the table.

"What the fuck?" Tony cried and looked to the table. Embedded in the wood was a tranquilizer dart. Not dangerous, per say, but surprising considering it had been aimed for Clint. "What is going on?"

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**And that's the end of another chapter. Don't forget to review please. ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**a. It's been a while. Sorry. Got tied up at work. Anyways! Thanks for the reviews and follows and favs! Hope you all enjoy this new bit. ^_^**

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"Get Clint out of there!" Natasha ordered as she came running up the rest of the beach. Her eyes quickly tracked the trajectory of the dart and rushed toward the woods. Bruce turned back and kneeled down to see Clint laying flat on the porch. Nodding an all clear, Bruce and Steve covered the archer as he crawled out from under the table and then they snuck into the house. Clint took a quick glance outside in time to see Natasha slip into the woods. He wanted so badly to just go and follow her. Help her chase down whoever shot at him. But by the sound of her voice, Clint knew it would be a very bad idea.

"So... Udaipur?" Tony questioned, not fully expecting an answer. And if he did, he was so going to ask about Budapest. Steve closed the door to the porch as Bruce walked off into the house. Pepper watched the scientist go and almost followed but hesitated when she saw he was turning a bit green. Sighing deeply at Tony's actions, Steve turned and gave the billionaire a look that pretty much read: 'drop it.' Clint was focused on the tree line and barely heard Tony. Nor was he aware of what the others were doing. "Hello, little archer man. You with us? I want to know about Udaipur."

"Leave it alone, Stark," Steve commanded, thinking that Clint didn't answer because he didn't want Tony knowing. Clint hummed and turned to face everyone that was left in the room. Seeing their slightly confused faces, the archer knew what had been happening. Sighing, he walked away from the door and headed to the couch. Slowly, everyone followed. They had no clue if Clint was going to open up or not. But they sure as hell weren't going to leave him alone until Natasha got back.

"Udaipur was the one mission were I became the target," Clint began. Tony's eyes raised in shock. He was finally getting an answer. Pepper gave a soft moan of displeasure. Steve shook his head. He knew what Clint and Natasha did for a living, not that he fully agreed with it. "Fury sent me with a different handler. Guy named James Holden, or something. It was rumored that Holden might be a snake, and Fury and Coulson knew I could handle myself."

"A snake?" Pepper questioned. Clint paused before nodding. He forgot that they might not know the term.

"A traitor. Someone using S.H.I.E.L.D as a cover up for something bigger. Double agents normally are spys working for someone else. Holden worked for another group but didn't steal info. He stole weapons, medicine and the like," Clint explained. Pepper nodded. "We went to Udaipur on a mission to catch Holden's boss, but at the time we didn't know this. First few days, doing recon was fine. No problems from the boss or Holden. Then I got the go ahead."

"Go ahead for the hit?" Tony inquired. Clint nodded.

"Well, so did they. And with Holden telling me where to run to, I kept of getting pinned. It took me a good hour of cat and mouse, plus a bullet to the ribs, before I realized Holden was a snake. Too bad I was too late. Got caught and nearly killed. Tasha and Coulson had to bail me out," Clint briefly explained. As he finished, the door opened and Natasha waltzed in. Clint gave her an expectant look and was depressed when she shook her head no.

"You're lucky that Natasha found you," Pepper remarked, remembering how she felt when Tony went missing. She felt so useless. Natasha glanced at the group before focusing on Clint. His innocent expression told her what she needed to know.

"Did you mention the torture?" Natasha muttered. Clint gave a harsh laugh. "Guess not. Holden's clearance was lower than Clint's so they tortured him for a good two days before we got there."

"Two days wasn't that bad considering my history," Clint laughed. No else laughed.

"That isn't something to joke about. That's horrible," Pepper gasped. Clint rolled his eyes and decided not to comment. Instead, he focused on Natasha. It was at this point that a now calmed Bruce reentered the room.

"What's going on?" he asked, knowing from before that she knew the answer. Natasha looked away as everyone focused on her. When she didn't answer right away, Tony crossed his arms. He figured learning about the here and now was more important than learning about the past.

"Yeah, spidey, what's going on? Who's trying to take out Katniss?" Tony growled. Clint sparred the billionaire a glance. "What? Rather Robin Hood? Merida? Susan? Kimberly? Green Arrow?"

"Invisible woman?" Pepper mentioned after hearing one of the names. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Susan from Narnia," he clarified. "Any other issues?"

"Yes. First, never compare me to Green Arrow. Second, I'd rather just go by Clint or Hawkeye," Clint commented before they all look to Natasha again. She groaned. Normally Tony could hold off a conversation longer than that.

"Hill told me the Council has it in for you. They want to terminate you," she mentioned calmer then she thought possible. Clint paled as he realized what she meant. Steve focused on the archer in shock. Bruce looked down to the floor. Pepper gasped and seemed like she might be about to cry. Tony just looked pissed.

"Does Fury not understand that he was possessed?" Tony demanded. Natasha faced him.

"Director Fury works under the Council. They are actually two separate entities," Natasha coolly responded. Tony tensed. "Fury actually wants to bring him in for questioning. He was going to wait until we all returned, but things changed."

"Well, don't the Council realize he was possessed? And why just him?"

"They don't care. As long as someone other then them gets claimed," Clint muttered before standing. Natasha walked over to him but before she made it to his side, he looked up with a face devoid of all emotion. "So, I'll go pack up."

"Clint," Natasha stared but the archer was already off. With a deep sigh, she went to follow only to have Steve grab her arm. It took only seconds for Clint to vanish from her sight. The dark threatening glare she gave Steve after did little to loosen the grip. Which, in all honesty, surprised her. Never, since being labeled Black Widow, has anyone ever stood up to her without some sort of protective barrier. "I need to go after him.

"Let him go," Steve whispered. Bruce nodded his consent along with Tony. Pepper simply slunk off to the side. "He's a big boy."

"Let me go, or you will regret it," Natasha hissed, her green eyes flickering toward where Clint was last seen. Steve shook his head.

"Natasha, let him think this over. How would you feel if you just found out you'd been fired," Bruce softly mentioned. Natasha stared at the scientist in shock. Then her eyes focused on everyone else and she clearly saw that they may have mistook her words. Without a thought to Steve's superior strength, Natasha yanked her arm from his grasp. Not wanting to hurt her, Steve had of course let go but now stepped in front of her path.

"Morons! The Council wants to kill Clint!" she cried at them, not caring how blunt she sounded. Surprised by her new admission, the others looked to the way that the archer had vanished. Without wasting another second, Natasha was rushing toward the room Clint had claimed as his own. Unconsciously, she knew that Tony, Steve and Bruce were right behind her.

The group burst into the room, praying that they'd see Clint just chilling on the bed. But the sight that greeted them was horrible. The far window was utterly shattered. Glass littered the floor. The mattress was flipped on it's side and the sheets strewn every which way. Anything that wasn't too heavy to move was now tossed far from it's original position. And the worst part... Clint was no where to be found.

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**And that's that. Hopefully the next update won't take as long. I plan on working all weekend to try and get as much of this story done but that can only work if people review! Reviews, follows, and favs make me happy and give me ideas which keep me writing! So, if you love this story, you know now what to do, please. ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews sure have slowed down on this story. But the following hasn't. Glad people are wanting to know when I update but I have no idea if you guys are reading or not! I hope everyone is enjoying how this is turning out. Please let me know!**

**Anyways, here is the next chapter. Hope to update more soon for the holiday! ^_^**

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"How could we not have heard this?" Tony whispered in despair. Natasha slowly crept into the room. She couldn't believe it. After just finding out, he was gone. Steve entered after her and placed a hand on her shoulder. When she looked to face him, she saw the sympathy and it infuriated her. No one was supposed to give Black Widow sympathy. Black Widow didn't feel emotion. Black Widow didn't feel loss. Black Widow can't get compromised. Too bad she already was.

"This is your fault," Natasha spit at the captian, in an effort to hide her feelings. Too bad this did the complete opposite of what she wanted. Steve flinched but didn't deny that it was his fault. Natasha jerked her shoulder away from his hand. Her eyes glaring daggers into the leader of the Avengers. "If you just let me follow him."

"I'm sorry, Natasha. I had no idea," Steve tried explaining. Natasha scoffed, making Tony flinch. She sounded so evil. Deciding it was best to not get involved, Tony pulled up a holographic tablet and started searching for something. Bruce, on the other hand, slipped into the room. He used this as a chance to look around, but he still paid attention to the conversation.

"That's right. You had no idea. But I did, and you stopped me. And now Clint may be dying. Do you really think a 'sorry' could fix this?" Natasha snapped before swiftly turning and walking deeper into the room. Steve looked crest-fallen. As evilly as she stated it, Natasha was right. He screwed up real bad. Bruce focused on Steve for a moment before facing Natasha.

"Clint is depending on us. Do you really want to lay blame or find him?" Bruce questioned. Natasha sighed and looked about the room. Steve frowned but also focused on searching for clues. Tony was busy outside in the hall trying to pull up video feeds of what happened. After a minute of searching, Steve looked back up at Natasha.

"I am truely sorry for what happened. I mistook your words, and now may have gotten Clint in serious danger," Steve apologized. Natasha groaned and kicked a large chunk of wood across the room. Bruce and Steve winced as it crashed into the one none broken lamp and shattered it. Natasha then faced Steve.

"No. I should have realized that you would have mistook the words. Hell, I mistook them when Hill told them to me," Natasha mentioned. Steve smiled as he went back to searching. He was glad that Natasha had kind of forgiven him.

"Hill told you?" Bruce asked. Natasha nodded but didn't add anything else to it before looking about the room. Bruce frowned but said nothing as he walked about the room. That was when it hit him. Something was off. The whole room was trashed, but something was missing. Not having really been in this room before, it took his longer than normal to notice. "Is it just me, or is there a lack of blood?"

"What do you mean?" Steve inquired as he looked to the scientist. Bruce eyed the captian for a second before pointing around.

"Ton of broken glass. White bed sheets. Couple of broken arrow shafts and heads. It's like a war zone. But in all this there is no blood from victim or assailant," Bruce pointed out. Natasha and Steve focused on that idea for a moment. He had a point. Clint would have put up a huge fight and had to have landed at least one blow. Or his attacker had to injure him to get him to leave. "This whole thing looks staged."

"Because it is. Clint never made it into the room," Tony called from outside. Bruce, Steve and Natasha quickly moved to join the billionaire. Not waiting for one of them to question him, Tony lifted the holographic tablet before him. "Was looking at the feeds. Clint hits the inbetween of these cameras when something grabs him. You see this blurry hand, then Clint vanishes."

"Magic?" Steve mentioned. Tony frowned. Bruce shook his head no. Natasha sighed deeply. "I mean, it could be Loki again."

"No. Thor would have told us by now," Natasha claimed. Tony scoffed.

"Yeah. Like the big guy really came to us first before taking Loki out of a moving jet," Tony mocked. Natasha gritted her teeth. Steve groaned and moved a few steps away. Bruce let out a deep breath. "Thor only came to us after the fact. And even then tried to take over the whole operation!"

"Sounds familiar," Steve softly remarked. Tony just about heard it and spun on the super soldier. But before he could speak, Steve held up his hand. "You heard me. Besides, we should really stop fighting. Barton is in life threatening danger."

"We were fighting about if Loki took him," Tony growled, pissed that he wasn't able to take a good verbal jab at the captain. "I still say no."

"You never said no," Steve said. Tony rolled his eyes. "Sides, we shouldn't rule him out until Thor comes and tells us for certain that Loki was not involved."

"I believe we should start with Fury," Bruce suddenly commented. Tony, Steve and Natasha focused on him. They all mostly seemed confused by his suggestion. Bruce frowned and reached for his glasses. Taking them off, he began cleaning the lenses with his shirt. "Well, the Council would have to get their men from him, and he would be ordering men to go after Clint. So, it's only right that we follow our biggest lead. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Clint woke to the major of all headaches. Almost felt like someone was doing construction with a jackhammer to his skull. And the worst part, it wasn't just his head that was bothering him. Everything was sore in some way or another. It did focus mainly on his upper body, but still, it all hurt. Groaning, he forced his left hand to come up and press against his aching head. When that simple motion left him feeling drained, Clint knew he'd been drugged. Now he just needed to read the symptoms better to figure out what drug. Assessing his predicament some more, the archer noted he never faced a drug with this many symptoms. It had to be new.

"Great, untested drug?" Clint moaned as he removed his hand. Slowly, he decided it was a great idea to open his greyish blue eyes. Too bad he was horribly wrong. For once, Clint was imprisoned in a very brightly lit white room. And the sight burned his poor eyes, which had been used to the back of his lids. With a pained groan, Clint snapped his eyes closed and turned away. He really didn't want to try that again.

"Ah, so you're awake," called a voice as a door creaked open and then close. Clint cracked his eyes open, slower than before to get used to the light, and glanced in the general direction of the voice. There, in the bright fluorescent light, stood a tall thin man with short cropped black hair and deep emerald green eyes. He smiled at the archer when he noticed Clint staring at him. Clint frowned. The man seemed familiar somehow. But Clint couldn't place how. "That's good. We were worried that the drug would keep you down and out longer. Now that you are awake, we would like to ask you some questions."

"We?" Clint growled as his eyes got used to the lights and his eyes opened more. The man smirked at Clint. Almost like the archer should know the answer to the question but because he didn't, it was amusing. Clint just waited. There were too many people that could be after him. He already knew of the Council, Fury, and about a hundred different mobs from around the world. So a name was really needed.

"Your name is Clinton Francis Barton, correct?" the man questioned instead. Clint rolled his eyes. Only the Council ever used his full name. Fury only called him Clint Francis Barton. So that narrowed it down really fast. Clint sighed deeply.

"Didn't we already play this game? I thought you decided to terminate me?" Clint countered. The man laughed.

"Oh, you'll die. After we get some answers," he said. Clint frowned. "You work under the alias of Hawkeye, correct?"

"Die? Your gonna kill me? For what?" Clint inquired. Then it hit him. The Council was going to kill him for what happened to him when he was under control of Loki. Clint's eyes widened in shock. The man didn't respond. He watched as Clint came to his own realization. "You can't blame me for what Loki made me do! I had no control!"

"You are trained to fight mind control. You did nothing to stop him. Hell, it looked like you practically handed yourself to him. It's your fault he got there. Your fault he got Selvig. Your fault he got the Tesseract. Your fault Fury got shot. Your fault the base got destroyed and all those people died. Your fault the Helicarrier got attacked! Your fault Manhattan happened!"

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**Hee hee. Am I mean or what?**

**Enjoy it? Hate it? Tell me what you like, please! Heck, tell me what you want to see and not see! Just please tell me something! Reviews help spur me on just as much as follows. But following can only be done once while reviewing can be done multiple times. Well, done for now. Next update should be up in at least the next few days or so... (I hope.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, it's Thanksgiving break here in the United States. I know a lot of my readers are from here but there are still many who aren't so I felt that it needed to be said. And I'm feeling generous. Luckily, I'm a few chapters ahead in my writing and so I can easily post this and not worry. Too bad my last chapter had just a good cliffhanger...**

**I've been asked to post a little faster and I feel this needs to be addressed. I wish I could. I have, in the past, written for and would post as soon as a chapter was done. And it worked out great. I would end up posting about once every few days or so. But then life would get in the way and I'd lose any idea of where I wanted to go with the story. So I started slowing down. Posting about once a week, giving people time to find my story and review makes it much easier for me to keep up with everything. I'll go as fast as I can but I can at least promise, once a week updates until I'm done.**

**Anyways... Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy this new chapter!**

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"So, let me get this straight... We are about to go into S.H.I.E.L.D HQ and accuse their boss of taking our friend, who is in fact on their pay roll?" Tony questioned as they began to start making plans to leave Miami and go see Fury. Their plan had been to have Tony don the Iron Man suit and have the others board a Quinjet that Tony had previously taken and fly to the Helicarrier. Once on the carrier, Tony would use the suit to clear a path straight to Fury. Steve and Bruce would hold the Director down while Natasha would interrogate him. Tony, of course, would defend their position until they were done. But now, as he thought about it more, Tony began to see they were being stupidly insane. Natasha, Steve and Bruce froze, staring at Tony as though he either grew a second head or suddenly changed into Loki. They hadn't even left Clint's room when they went to make plans for fear of bringing Pepper in on the action. But now, staring at the billionaire, processing his words, the group began to see sense. "I don't mean to make it sound like I don't care for him, but going after Fury may actually be crazier than we first thought."

"What the hell was I thinking?" Natasha growled at herself before kicking a piece of trash in anger. Steve raised an eyebrow at the display of emotion but no one else made any other action toward it. No one dared tried. With Clint missing, Natasha was seeming to fall apart at the seams. It was not only dangerous to watch but it was now becoming dangerous to be around her. "I know better than this! I was trained better then this!"

"Natasha, we all aren't thinking clearly," Steve muttered. Natasha ignored him as she went off deeper into the room. The three heard a loud crash and a guttural scream. No one moved to investigate.

"Well, if that lead is gone, then what are we going to do?" Bruce asked when he figured Natasha was done with her emotional rant. He only hoped that Tony had a new suggestion or Natasha was likely to kill him. And at this point, he didn't think Steve or he could stop her.

"Actually. I was thinking we could-" Tony began when suddenly Natasha returned to the room. She looked slightly crazed but more in control then seconds before.

"Clint has a tracker!"

"What?" Steve, Bruce and Tony called.

"Coulson made us get one. We'd only have it get activated after two days of being taken to be certain that we had been checked for trackers. And even then it would only get turned on for short blips. Only Coulson, Clint and I had the radio frequency that the tracker was kept on!" Natasha declared with almost such joy that she was nearly smiling at the guys. The three traded a glance. They were unsure if they wanted to trust her judgment right now.

"Uh, that's great and all. But don't the Council know about this thing?" Tony mentioned. Natasha shook her head. Tony frowned. He almost wanted to ask if Fury knew about it but figured that if their handler was the one who made them get it, Fury must know. "Okay. That solves that problem."

"Can it be activated before the two days?" Steve questioned in his confusion of technology. Tony rolled his eyes. Bruce smiled at Steve's innocence. Natasha nodded.

"Of course. Coulson made a control for it. We each have a certain code that we enter for each of us and the tracker starts with these blips. Just turning on for a few seconds to send some info and then shutting off. After about ten blips or so, we'll have a location. Unless they are jamming the frequencies. Then, depending on how good the tech is, the blips could be eleven or up to over a hundred. Sometimes more."

"What was the longest one?" Steve muttered. Natasha sobered and looked away.

"One thousand two hundred fifty seven blips. Clint and I were in Budapest." With that said, Natasha left the room.

"I really have got to learn about Budapest," Tony whined. Bruce smirked as Tony left the room after the spy. He looked to the super soldier. Steve focused on the scientist with a confused look.

"You know. It'd be fun to learn that Budapest was just a vacation," Bruce joked. Steve laughed lightly as the two then took off after their comrades.

"So, Clint is gone?" Pepper parroted once again as she stared at Tony in shock. She had stopped the four when she saw them round the corner. They had been intent on leaving without saying a word to the woman but when she questioned Tony, he just opened up. Tony nodded. "Clint was taken. In a house full of super... Heroes? People? What do I even call you?"

"I'd go for heroes," Tony said.

"Freak, for me," Bruce muttered. Steve frowned. Bruce noticed but before he could speak, Natasha said something.

"I'm an assassin and a spy, not a hero," Natasha snapped at Tony. "And Clint is an assassin and sniper."

"We're the Avengers now," Tony fought back. Natasha snarled at the name. She remembered filling out the file for Coulson.

"Avengers. Okay. House full of Avengers. Great. Can't even protect themselves," Pepper distantly mumbled. Not that any of them really heard her. They were now too busy fighting themselves. Steve mentioned something to Bruce but only the scientist caught it and it made him sigh deeply.

"Clint and I still work for S.H.I.E.L.D! We are not heroes!" Natasha snarled at Tony. He stepped toward her, almost daring her to attack.

"Come on Steve. You see me during the fight. I was big and green and hardly in control," Bruce argued. Steve's frown deepened. His original statement having been lost in Pepper's little rant.

"You saved Tony's life!" Steve pointed out. Bruce rolled his eyes. His thoughts clearly showing how much he enjoyed that statement.

"Not heroes? What do you call Manhattan then? That was pretty damned heroic?" Tony shouted at Natasha. Natasha scoffed. She so wanted to just punch Tony in the face.

"After nearly breaking his back!" Bruce cried. "I saw the footage!"

"Doing our jobs!" Natasha growled. Tony make a choking laugh sound.

"He was falling too fast for Thor to go catch him! Hulk knew what he was doing!" Steve defended. Bruce laughed.

"Your jobs? So a spy and sniper now go after aliens trying to take over the world?" Tony attacked.

"Hu... The other guy could have crushed Tony just as easily as crushing an egg if he squeezed too hard when he caught him!" Steve winced as he imaged what Bruce was describing.

"We were the few unharmed enough to fight, so we did. Fury would have ordered us too sooner or later anyways." Tony outright laughed at this.

"But he didn't. And Hulk's cry helped wake Tony back up! It's thanks to him that we have him still here!"

"Sure. Just like Fury sent us back up that wasn't a freaking nuke!" Natasha raised her arm as though she was going to punch Tony. Someone cleared their throat and she paused but didn't look just yet.

"Um, guys. How is this helping Clint?" Pepper suddenly cut in. The four stopped fighting and looked to the woman in surprise. She stood in a hallway to their right, her eyes red rimmed but curious. Tony was first to break eye contact with the CEO of his company. Natasha and Steve were next, the soldier hiding an embarrassing blush forming on his cheeks. Bruce was last with only a thankful nod being sent her way. "I guess you guys should get going?"

"Yeah," Tony whispered, pausing as he looked back at Natasha with a sheepish look. She barely looked at him. "You should head to Malibu ASAP. Call Rhodey and let him know you are there. I want him with you at all times."

"I will," Pepper promised. Tony smirked in a way that was reserved for only her. Bruce, Steve, Natasha and Tony began to file out of the room. Pepper watched as they headed for the hallway leading to the launch bay where the Quinjet and an Iron Man suit were currently stored. "Tony!"

The four paused to look back at her.

"Don't come back without him." They all smiled at her. No one knew just how close they all had become to each other. But Pepper knew. They were a family. The Avengers, family.

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**Alright now! Hope everyone here in the US enjoyed their holidays! Please review. And I'll talk to you all when I update next. ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, writer's block is gone and this story just keeps on coming and coming. Wrote two chapters last night. And this morning (after working for less than an hour), already have another half done. Jeez, guess I could update a little fast for a while. Just pray that I can keep going until the end.**

**Anyways, thanks for hanging with me! ^_^ Here is the next chapter!**

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Blip.

Blip.

Blip.

Blip.

"OH MY GOD! This is killing me!" Tony screamed suddenly. He jumped to his feet as he grabbed his head. Pacing the room, his hands began lacing his fingers into his hair in sheer agony. Natasha smirked as she reached her hand out toward Bruce. Bruce sighed and dug into his pocket. Pulling out a wad of cash he quickly and quietly counted it before placing it in the former Russian's outstretched hand with frown. Her hand then shifted. Steve groaned before he also took out a wad of cash and dropped it in her hand. Tony barely noticed.

Blip.

"Ah!" Tony cried. Bruce chuckled lightly before he could stop himself. Steve snickered behind a raised hand and Natasha's smirk grew. Tony whipped around to glare at his three companions. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

"Tony, we just turned it on," Steve mentioned as another blip was heard in the background. Tony growled at the machine. He was beginning to look like a caged animal or something. "This could take a while."

"Like days," Natasha offhandedly commented, saying it more to bother Tony then to upset anyone. Bruce and Steve knew what she was doing and didn't respond. Tony's groan of disdain was well worth the knowledge of knowing they may not be able to help their friend for a long time.

"JARVIS would have had a location by now," Tony pouted as another blip sounded. The billionaire glared at the machine in utter contempt. Bruce smirked. He almost felt like Tony was putting on a drama show for them. "I feel like it's doing that to torture me."

"Why don't you go fix your suit or something and we'll call you with a location?" Natasha calmly suggested. Tony turned and looked at her. The machine bliped again. Tony snarled. Steve couldn't hold back his chuckle of amusement.

"Or, have JARVIS trace the blips. See who's faster at a location," Bruce softly muttered. Tony's face brightened. Suddenly he couldn't be out of there fast enough. The remaining three could barely contain their laughter at the billionaire as another blip drowned out Tony's cry of thanks. This time Bruce groaned.

"I can mute that," Natasha smartly stated. Bruce and Steve smiled.

"Please do," they called.

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Fury frowned as he stared at his computer monitor. He couldn't be seeing that, could he? Three years ago, when Phil Coulson came to him with a radical idea of a tracking device, Fury didn't believe it could work. But time and time again, Coulson proved his old friend wrong. Fury was just thankful that he thought ahead and made sure to have himself be included in their little loop. Now though, Fury was staring at one active device that he really hated to see. With a deep groan, Fury turned on his comm.

"Agent Hill?" he called out as calmly as he could. There was a few seconds pause in which the director wondered if she was going to respond. After what happened earlier, he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't.

"Sir?" Hill's voice came back. Fury closed his eyes and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose. Squeezing tightly, he responded. Hill didn't sound pleased. Well, that was too bad. Fury wasn't pleased either.

"Call Agent Romanoff and get me a status report on Agent Barton," he ordered. Even without her speaking, Fury could feel her hesitation. It had actually only been less then ten hours since she had last spoken to the spy. How could that much have changed? "Now, Agent."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

* * *

Blip.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Blip.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

"WHO THE FUCK IS RINGING?" Tony shouted. He had come back only a few minutes ago to join the others for food. When they realized he was going to stay with them, Natasha had turned back on the sound. At first, Tony tried to act like it didn't bother him. But the twitch in his right eye after a minute of beeping proved otherwise. And now the ringing phone was just too much. "GOD DAMN! JUST FUCKING ANSWER IT!"

"Romanoff?" Natasha muttered seconds later with a smirk. She hadn't even looked at her caller ID, a mistake she would later regret.

"Natasha?" came the unforgettable sound of Maria Hill's voice. Natasha's amusement immediately vanished. Bruce and Steve flashed her concerned and curious glances. She waved them off before standing and walking out of the room. "Natasha, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be? You gave me enough warning," Natasha skirted. Hill hissed. Their earlier talk still on each of their mind. It had not gone well after Hill mentioned that Clint was in danger.

"Where is Barton? Can I speak to him?" Hill questioned. Natasha glanced back at the room she just left. Bruce was still sitting in his seat watching her. Steve was leaning forward, eye switching between her and the tracker. Tony was standing near the doorway, a condescending smirk on his face. It gave Natasha an idea. She paused, as though asking someone off the phone a question and waiting for a response.

"I asked. He said fuck no," Natasha replied. Bruce coughed. Steve's eyed widened. Tony forced himself to cover his hysterical laughter. Natasha was just thankful that Clint and Hill's relationship tended to be so poor otherwise this might not work. Hill sighed.

"Okay. Thanks for the update," Hill muttered. Natasha nodded. Not wanting to slip up, or dredge up the fight, Natasha pulled the phone away from her ear. Without saying good-bye, the spy hung up. Tony then burst out laughing. Natasha focused on him. Bruce was in the background shaking his head.

"Would he really have said that?" Steve asked, his eyes still wide. Natasha gave him a light smile as she looked to the super soldier. It was funny to her now. And it made her want to join in Tony's laughter. But she held herself to the smile.

"I forget that you don't know us well."

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"I think Agent Barton is missing, sir," Hill reported, a slight bit of worry leaking into her tone. Fury cracked an eyebrow at this. He knew that Hill had good judgment calls like this, but he needed proof. Especially considering who she talking about. But after this year, Fury shouldn't be too surprised that one of his best agents may have been taken down.

"On what basis do you believe this?" Fury muttered as he sat back in his chair. Hill focused on his good eye for a brief second. He could tell she was checking to see if he was really asking for proof or not. Sometimes, like now, he asked for proof just for the fun of it. Other times, he wouldn't act unless their was valid proof.

"Agent Romanoff sounded strange during our conversation. There was no loud argument when I asked to speak to Agent Barton. She made no mention of our previous fight. And the conversation ended much too quickly," Hill stated. Fury nodded. All valid points that wouldn't work as proof for anyone but Romanoff and Barton. Fury's eye glanced back at his computer. The tracker was almost done. Just a few more blips and they'd know. Fury blinked.

"Shit!" he cursed and jumped from his chair. Hill's eyes widen but otherwise made no reaction to the change in her superior. "How the hell could they have found it?"

Fury cursed again before slamming his fists on his desk and storming around the furniture. Hill silently watched as he walked out the door and headed off down the hall. He was still loudly cursing as she turned back to his computer. Slowly she moved forward and looked at the screen.

Trace Lost.

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**HA! It ends so quickly. ^_^ I wish I could write longer chapters but I'm finding that writing around 1,500 words seems to be a great fit for each chapter.**

**Well, next chapter is all about Clint! Lots of torture and fun coming your way soon! Whoot whoot!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am sooooo sorry this took so long to post... I wrote out chapter 10 only to realize that I was writing it way to dark for the rating that I have this story set as... So I got a little depressed and didn't want to work on the story for a bit, mainly cause I knew I'd have to rewrite the entire chapter 10 over again. But, now I feel like working on it and I figured what is better then working on it then having my phone buzzing as people review and add my story as favorites and follows. ^-^**

**Anywho. Warnings for this chapter have to be included. There is torture involved. If you don't like torture, don't read this chapter... Sorry. If you do... Well, you have sick minds. I like you. ^_^ **

**Enjoy!**

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It had only been four hours since he had been kidnapped. Clint knew that because the idiots forgot to take off his watch and it went off with an alarm to take some pain meds he was currently taking (Manhattan really took it's toll). Why they hadn't taken the watch before, Clint couldn't fathom, but when the alarm went off, the agent stormed into the room so fast it almost made the archer laugh. The punch to his face and gut weren't so nice. But they were to keep him compliant as the man undid some of the ropes to get at the watch. When he redid the ropes, the man did them too well. They bite into Clint's wrists and cut off some circulation to his fingers and hands. It just made it that much easier.

"Hey, that hurts," Clint muttered. The man smirked. His left hand came up and patted Clint's right cheek. Clint snarled but didn't move away. He had to keep the act up. Had to see what the man was going to do next.

"I'm glad it does. Glad it does," he told the archer before turning to leave. Clint sighed, making the man pause. The archer didn't notice. So far the pain on his wrists and the punches to his gut and face were the only hits he had taken since waking. It was strange. The man had yelled at him for at least a good hour or so. Yelling about being under Loki's control. About much of his disobedience since working with S.H.I.E.L.D. Thankfully, not much of it bothered Clint for he had been thinking of these things before.

"So, now we're getting to that?" Clint asked. The man didn't respond. He just left with the watch still beeping it's crazy little alarm. As the door closed, Clint just about heard the crunch of it being smashed under a boot followed by the dying beep of the electronics. Clint smirked. Something was really wrong with this guy. Originally, he thought the man worked with the Council and was an agent. But his ineptitude sometimes proved otherwise. Then again, the man would then turn around and surprise him. Forgetting it for now, Clint focused on listening for sounds of someone approaching.

Clint waited what felt to be five minutes, but was probably only two minutes before he began shifting his wrists around. Now that they were bleeding, the red liquid coated the rope and made the knots slippery. Rookie mistake. Clint had to smile. Maybe it wasn't the Council who had him. It could just be some guys using the Council's information. He doubted both but it was the only explanation he could come up with outside of going really crazy. A lot of what this man knew was based on the facts that Clint knew. So, if someone had recently been in his head, they would easily know all this. But seeing as that couldn't be true, Clint tried not to think about it.

"Just a little more," Clint whispered to himself as he felt the knot slid almost out of place. His hands were getting feeling back but his fingers were lost thanks to lack of blood flow to the area. He actually became so engrossed in the rope and his hands that he didn't hear the door to his cell open. Nor did he hear the quick strides across the room. What he did hear and feel was the crack of his jaw as a right jab went through it. "AH! Shit!"

"Fucker!" the man snapped before a left hook sent Clint and his chair to the ground. Clint laughed hysterically as the man growled deeply. Taking one step forward, the man placed his foot on one of the chair's legs and pushed. Clint was pleasantly surprised (but hide it well) as the chair lifted itself back into place. "You're making me rush here. Just like before."

"What?" Clint asked. The man said nothing. Just punched Clint in the ribs. The archer gasped as he heard a crack. At least one rib had to have fractured. The man then grabbed Clint's short hair and pulled him as far forward as he could before quickly pulling back and then forward into his knee. Clint grunted as his nose cracked and blood spurted down the other agent's leg. "Jesus! You gonna fucking ask me something? Or tell me something I did wrong?"

"You were born," the man snarled. Clint's blood froze. He had heard that line before. So long ago. He thought he had blocked those memories. But now they were starting to come back at him full force. Clint squeezed his eyes closed. He needed to put the walls back up. Being so focused on that, the S.H.I.E.L.D agent didn't notice his tormentor leave and come back with a rolling metal table. He did notice the sharp slice cutting across his chest only seconds later though.

Hissing, Clint's grey eyes snapped open. The man stood before him with a bloody knife in his hand. Clint focused on the knife. By doing that, he missed the smile cross the man's face. Sighing, the archer looked past and spotted the table. It was filled with fun little toys he had seen in other torture times in his past. This wasn't going to be good. But then he did ask for it. Clint glanced back into greenish blue eyes.

"Let's go."

* * *

Clint wasn't sure how much time passed since he passed out. The torture was pretty intensive. Clint was rather shocked at the man's working knowledge of the subject. Hell, he had even made the archer scream. Clint prided himself on not screaming during torture sessions. So it was now, in the dark confines of unconsciousness, that he began to worry if this other agent would actually be able to break him. And not just breaking him as in body parts. Everyone did that. That was too easy and rather overdone. But Clint worried about his mental stability. Could he handle days of this? Or weeks?

SPLASH!

Clint woke, sputtering, as cold water drained off his face and head. Grey eyes looked up and glared hotly at the tall man before him. The man snorted as he dropped the metal bucket to the ground. It's job was over. Now onto the next item of business. Clint waited to see what would happen. Which form of torture would come next? Water boarding? Roman cutting? Chinese whipping? What did come next, he didn't expect.

"What was the name of the first man you killed?" the agent asked. Clint furrowed his brows. They went back to questions now? He thought it was going to be torture till death. The man paused. "Oh, I mean, first _person _you killed."

Clint's eyes narrowed. The first person to actually die by his hands/arrow was a man name Peter Dinkle. He worked security for a small bank in a town the Carson's Circus was passing through. An accident really. One that Clint desperately wanted to erase from his red ledger just as badly as Natasha wanted to clean hers.

"Mary Josephine Louise-Barton."

Clint snarled at the indication that he would he killed his own mother. She had died in a car crash when he was only two years old. He and his older brother, Barney, were forced to live with their drunken, guilty father for two more years before he committed suicide by cop. After that the boys would spend three years in all boys home, run by a child molester and drug abuser. They would then escape to Carson's Circus of Traveling Wonders. Barney, who was three and a half years older then Clint, would leave Carson's first. Clint left after nine and a half blissfully ignorant years. Two years later, S.H.I.E.L.D/Coulson finds Clint in Vienna. A bullet in his left leg and a threat of going to jail hanging over him, the archer joined the mysterious group and the rest is history.

"I didn't kill her," Clint snarled. The man tsked. Turning around, he grabbed something and before Clint could process what was happening, he had slammed a sharp object into his left shoulder. Clint grunted, thankful that the pain wasn't in his drawing arm. If the man had chosen the other shoulder, the archer may have been out of commission (if he ever got out of this situation).

"Sure you didn't. Just like you didn't kill Philip James Coulson," the man said with a knowing smirk. Clint jerked slightly at the name. "It was your plan. You were the leader."

"I never... Coulson wasn't..." Clint stammered.

"The food was for you. You couldn't plan on the black ice. That buck was perfectly timed. But she wouldn't have been out there if you didn't want that treat," the man pointed out. "Just like your plans! You knew Coulson would be on the Helicarrier! You've worked with him how many years? Loki was just ripe for the picking."

"NOOOOO!"

* * *

**Sorry if that wasn't enough torture. There is more coming, promise. Just as soon as I get my act together again. ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, I have recently been informed (by my hubby) that chapter 8 stunk... Hmm... Sorry? Hopefully this one is more to your liking.**

* * *

"Do you have any idea what it's like knowing that you killed many of the greatest warriors that S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer?" the man snarled darkly as he took a blade from Clint's left temple down his cheek and stopping just near his chin. Blood began to slowly trickle off the new injury. Clint already had a matching one on his chest, collarbone and right arm. Soon, all he'd need is his leg. The man was quick to move down there. Clint shifted his legs away making the man punch him in the balls. The archer gasped as he tried not to squeal. As the pain passed, he spoke.

"Agents," Clint gasped out through the pain. The wound was now being pressed against a salted, wet towel. He hadn't seen the other man grab it but he had pressed the same towel to other wounds. The salt would stop infection and help clot the blood and the water cleaned the area. Clint knew it was just to keep him alive longer. Why, he didn't know yet. Especially considering the man had already stated the Council wanted him dead.

His grey eyes flashed as they meet with greenish blue ones. The man was now curious. He wanted to understand Clint's pain crazed logic. But Clint didn't expand on his correction. Pissed, the other agent shoved his thumb into Clint's shoulder wound. It aggravated the tissue and Clint swore he almost felt the man's nails scrap against bone.

"Shit!" he cussed as the thumb was withdrawn. The man snarled. His greenish blue eyes flashing in the light. Clint closed his eyes as he tried to re center his mind. The pain was making it hard to focus.

"What did you say?" Clint still refused to answer. Growling now, the other agent spun back to the table behind him. He dropped the bloody scalpel he had been using before and picked up some sort of clear vial. Popping the top, he paused. "I'll ask again. What did you say?"

"Fuck you," Clint snarled. The vial was tossed onto his stomach and slightly splashed his legs. For a brief few seconds, Clint felt nothing and almost laughed. But then the sizzling and burning started. Clint's eyes opened as large as a dinner plate as he tried not to scream. Too bad that didn't stop him. "FUCKING HELL! JESUS CHRIST! SHIT BALLS!"

The man laughed as he replaced the top on the empty vial. Clint kept on cussing as loud as he could to stop from screaming in pure agony. The pain was worst then anything he had ever felt. It was like acid but it ate away faster than the liquid ever did in the past. Clint looked down at his wounds quickly and noticed that the liquid hadn't touched his clothes. His once white tank was now completely red.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the man splashed Clint with something new. The pain from his stomach and legs left but every open wound was burning as though on fire. Clint grimaced. The amount of pain was less. Didn't mean it didn't hurt like a 'som-bitch', but it was less then before.

"Do you like the acid? Well, actually. It acts like acid but it really isn't. I could shatter the bottle on this metal table and nothing would happen. But put it on skin or living tissue and snap, it burns. Feels good?" he asked. Clint moaned as he felt the blackness of unconsciousness coming forward. Too many of his wounds were filling his mind with agony. He had lost too much blood. Not as much as he normally might have, but still a decent amount. "I bet it felt just like the explosion that killed five agents when you bombed the Helicarrier."

"Go fuck yourself," Clint groaned but his mind replayed all the times he had been caught by one of his exploding arrows. The effect was rather similar. Burning, blistering, white hot agony. Well, depending on how close to the bomb. Guilt tour through him. Their were still at least seven people who had not been found. No bodies. No trace from their trackers. And no idea where they had been during the attack. The man smiled.

"Ah, a breakthrough. Shall we continue with the acid explosion? Or how about we delve into the same pain as your other targets. All arrows to the chest or neck, correct?" Clint's eyes flashed with worry before he could stop the feeling. If the man thought of doing an arrow to his chest, it could mean the end of his arching days forever. "Arrows it is."

* * *

Clint could barely groan the next time he returned to consciousness. The arrow that the other agent had shoved near his collarbone had just about tweaked the muscles around his vocal chords. It had amused the man to no end. All the way until Clint passed out staring at a second arrow looming over his heart. No amount of slapping and slicing could reawaken the archer.

New cuts and the feelings of bruising and swelling had alerted Clint to his rough treatment during unconsciousness. But that didn't mean the end. All cuts had been treated by the special salt rag. That bothered Clint to no end. Salting the wounds also made it near impossible to reopen them until they scab over. Which was delayed by at least a day with the salt. Platelets needed a wet wound to scab.

"Ah, back from the almost dead? Unlike your dear, dear handler. What was his name? Bill? Fin? No, Mill, right? Or was it Phil?" Clint snarled but all that came out was a breathless whistle sound. The arrow to his throat had really done some damage. It just made the man smile. His greenish blue eyes tingled with mirth. Clint paused. He had seen those eyes before. But he had never seen this man. Or, had he? "How does it feel? Loosing that one piece of you? Knowing that you can't even scream?"

Clint looked away. It was bothering him. Not being able to speak meant Clint had to rely on facial cues. Something he was never good at was hiding deep tortures pain from his face. Now, this agent would know it all and Clint would have no snide remark to cover his ineptitude.

"This is so much fun. Don't you agree?" A pause. "Oh, right. How bout this?"

CRACK

Clint's eyes snapped open as pain assaulted his fingers. The man laughed. He had broken two of the archer's fingers. Actually, he had broken the two that held and pulled back on the string. Clint's index and middle. And he couldn't even cuss the man out.

"Aw, poor boy. Let's try this."

SNAP

Clint let out a muffled groan that caused as much pain in his throat as it did his left knee. The man had kicked his knee so hard, it shattered the knee cap and pushed the two remaining bones out of alignment. Tears began to form in Clint's eyes.

"At least your murders were fast and sure. Well, for most," the man growled. Clint shut his eyes as his mind focused back to the report he stole out of Fury's office. It was the day before Natasha took him to Tony's less known home in Miami but still a day and a half after Loki and Thor had left for Asgard. The report was about six agents who had gone to the medical center for treatment after Clint's attack. Two had died that night from third degree burns. One died the next morning from shrapnel causing internal bleeding. Another died from bleeding in his lungs. One more passed from smoke inhalation and the last was still in a coma.

Guilt tour through Clint again. He knew it was his fault. He didn't need this freak show torture to prove that to him. All this did was help show how much they suffered. Clint deserved every bit of it. It was the only way he knew how to truly atone for the crimes. Forgiveness from others didn't help. Not even some of the families of the victims helped.

Yes, victims. That's what those men and women were. Victims of Hawkeye. They never should have been targeted. All of them should still be alive. They would be alive if Clint had died before.

When he was fighting Loki's control, Clint avoided killing Fury and Hill. But not once did he think of taking his own life. Selvig tried, early on. After the car ride, Loki ordered Clint to find a new base of operations. Selvig grabbed Clint's holster-ed gun and pointed it too his temple but then froze. The idea of death couldn't completely overpower Loki. Clint and Loki had laughed at Selvig after. But now Clint could see the man had the right idea. If only the archer had listened.

"Selvig was a moron. Taking your own life would not have stopped me," the man called into Clint's shattering mind. It took all of two seconds for the archer to catch the mistake. Head and eyes snapping up, he focused. The illusion was gone now. Before the battered archer now stood the one and only:

"Loki."

* * *

**Well? Was it better than chapter 8? I hope so... Can't wait for the next chapter though. I really liked how it turned out even though I couldn't use half of what I originally wrote.**

**I guess, now we wait until then. Bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, this is amazing. Gotta love all the... Well, love ^_^ I'm getting on this story. Just took a quick peek at my views for this month and last month and realized I should try and post today. So, here we are. New post and everything.**

**Now, if you all remember, earlier I mentioned that I had written this for the wrong rating. I have since fixed it, making it longer as well. There are still hints at to what I had wanted to do with this chapter. If you want to read the higher rated version, drop me a review and I'll see what I can do.**

**Warning: Still hints toward darker images. Mostly mental torture.**

* * *

Clint winced. Not only was his once master standing before him, but speaking had really hurt his tortured throat. Loki clicked his tongue in admiration. It was interesting to see how much his number one subject could stand before breaking. He had been so close to destroying Clint. But then he messed it all up with a simple phrase. That phrase made the rather intelligent man before him realize what was going on. It was something that Loki was rather unused to.

"Yes, dear Clinton. How nice it is to see you," Loki admonished. Clint snarled, ignoring the agony of his throat. Loki chuckled. "Well, for me, it has been wonderful. Escaping my prison is not easy, you know."

"I bet," Clint ground out, his voice cracking as his cords protested the vibrations. Loki smiled to his favorite archer. It was such good fun, watching all this. Loki sighed as he walked away from Clint. When he passed the metal table, it vanished. The god took no true notice. Clint, however, was startled and tried to cover it.

"I shall miss this," Loki admitted. Clint snorted, slightly surprised when his cords didn't protest the sound. "It was a great escape, while it lasted."

"What do you want?" Clint cried, his voice barely a whisper. Loki inclined his head back at the archer. His evil smile still in place. But deep in his greenish eyes, Clint could see the hint of something else. Something the archer wished he couldn't understand but he had seen enough on Natasha's victims; lust.

"You."

Clint paused. Confusion filtered into his eyes as he focused on Loki. He hoped that the word didn't mean what he thought it meant. But judging by Loki's attitude, Clint could only fear the worse. His body shook and he tried to hold back a groan of pain. The god laughed and turned away from the archer as all around them the room began to disappear, bit by bit. It was slowly replaced with a rundown warehouse. One that Clint recognized from Harlem. To his right, a Hulk sized hole let in natural light. His left were shattered windows facing another, much taller building. Somewhere above him, a crack in the ceiling from where Hulk dropped the Abomination part way through.

Deep in his mind, Clint pieced together what he thought was going on. Loki was getting revenge in some sick way here. In his own sick way. Clint just hoped that everything was part of the revenge. Even the image of what the archer had seen in the god's eyes had to be faked, right? It disgusted Clint to realize that he had fallen into the trap.

"All this? An illusion?" Clint cracked. Loki chuckled when Clint looked down to himself. His tee was back to it's former brilliant white shade and his jeans weren't coated with blood. All of his pain, gone. Grey eyes focused on greenish blue ones.

"Yes. And elaborate illusion, designed to make you snap without a single injury," Loki called. Clint blinked in confusion before he dropped to his knees in shock. Stunned at the movement, Clint looked back and couldn't spot the chair he had once been tied to. Loki laughed, slightly harder then before. "You have been torturing yourself of your own volition, boy. All of that, was thanks to your tactical mind!"

"No," Clint declared, finally noting how easy it was to speak again. Loki continued laughing.

"You showed me what to do! You told me all about the agents you killed. You asked me for death!"

"NO!"

"Yes," Loki hissed, finished with laughing. Clint clutched his head. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to block out Loki's voice. "You welcomed me into your head with open arms."

Clint felt Loki beside him. He panicked. Throwing his arms out, he caught Loki on his chest with bare palms. Rather then be pushed back, Loki latched onto Clint's wrists. Clint started shaking as he stared up into those green eyes he so feared. Loki smiled before leaning forward and jamming his lips down onto Clint's. The archer was stunned. He couldn't move. Loki held his wrists in place but his taller body gave him easy access to Clint's warm lips. Humming in appreciation, Loki opened his mouth slightly. His tongue darted out and played against Clint's skin. The archer gasped, opening his mouth for Loki's assault. As the tongue wandered about the new area, Clint's mind caught up with him. He jammed his jaws closed.

Loki screamed into Clint's face. Quickly, he released a wrist to slap the archer. It made the jaw loosen in time for Loki to pull away. When Clint looked back, he was pleased to see a small line of blood coming out of Loki's mouth. The archer smirked in joy. Loki's eyes flashed angrily as he looked up and spotted the smirk. Growling, he decided it was time.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," Loki snarled. Clint felt like his smirk widened before his body betrayed him. The look vanished but reappeared on Loki's face. Confused as all sin, Clint focused on Loki. "You welcomed me and all my glory."

"No," Clint muttered as he backed away from the god. Loki laughed, straightening his body. Clint's eyes dropped to the ground. He couldn't believe this god. Loki was a liar. He knew that better than anyone. But why had his body betrayed him as such? Loki dipped back down by Clint's side. The archer didn't notice until the god placed a hand, almost lovingly, on his left cheek. Clint back peddled. "No!"

"Don't tell me you don't want this. Just sit still," Loki purred. Clint whimpered as a cool breeze struck his body. Looking down, he noticed his clothes had nearly all vanished. The only thing left on was his bland gray boxers. Crying out, Clint tried to curl in on himself but his body didn't move. It barely even shook. Loki laughed. He was truly going to enjoy taking the archer as his. "Now be a good boy. Just like before. Following my orders so well."

Clint groaned as he tried to get up and run, but his body obeyed Loki now. It was completely still. He didn't want this. He didn't want Loki. But he also didn't have a choice. Loki moved forward once again. Clint squeezed his eyes closed, the only piece of his body he could control. The god sighed. He wanted the archer to watch. To see what he was too. No. Actually, he wanted to watch the man break. Just like Thor. He wanted to see Clint's soul shatter in his heavenly blue eyes. This was something he wanted even before Clint betrayed him. Loki had wanted to destroy Clint the moment he laid eyes on him in New Mexico. When he had the audacity to laugh, when Loki couldn't lift Mjolnir.

"You ordered me to kill those men," Clint whispered so softly that Loki could barely hear him. It shocked the god for a moment. Too suddenly have all his work backfire at him. It was just like earlier. One simple turn of phrase and he was back at the beginning. Loki frowned, for once thankful that Clint had his eyes closed. But just as the archer looked up, Loki knew what to say and smirked. Clint narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't order you to kill anyone. I ordered you to take down the Helicarrier. I ordered you to get the iridium," Loki smartly pointed out. Clint stiffened.

"But, Director Fury..."

"All on your own. All I did was look at you," Loki said with a laugh as Clint looked away. The god could tell that the archer was thinking back to that moment. It was only a week ago, so the memory was still fairly fresh. Too bad the memory was tinged with blue. Blue that Loki put there in the first place. Clint wasn't sure if he could fully remember if he didn't he an order or not. For all he knew, Loki mentally told him to shoot Fury but never verbally said it. Either way, an order was an order. But if Loki did nothing except look, Clint was stuck with all the guilt of shooting his boss. "Yes, pet. Enjoy it," Loki whispered as he leaned his taller frame down to kiss Clint's neck. Clint groaned and closed his eyes as his body pushed back against Loki's chest. Having been lost in his own thoughts, Clint hadn't even realized what was happening until the god began sucking hard. Shocked, he cussed.

"Fuck, no," Clint whimpered as he tried to pull away. Sadly his body still wanted to follow Loki's command. He stayed close to the god's warm frame. Clint found a groan coming close to escaping his mouth as Loki hit the nerve in his neck. Closing his eyes, he began cussing himself out. He couldn't enjoy this. It was wrong. He hated Loki. He didn't want to feel love to the god. But he couldn't pull away. His body would instead move closer to Loki. Whining now, Clint tried to stop his ever growing need to moan. He didn't even notice when Loki changed from sucking on his neck to simply kissing and licking his ear lob.

"Come here," Loki ordered. Clint's body jerked back as the god whispered into his ear. He was hating how his body was responding. But he couldn't help it. Loki was great. He knew what he was doing. And Clint couldn't deny that. So all he could do was try to block it all out. Sadly, number one thing S.H.I.E.L.D taught with torture techniques was to not blank out. Not only was it dangerous for whoever may be trying to rescue you, but it was also dangerous for you. You could lose too much if you blanked out during torture. Sometimes it was only time. Other times it was body parts. No matter what, it was dangerous. But Clint couldn't stand this. "I knew you had heart."

"Stop," Clint muttered as his mind began to crumble against the onslaught. He couldn't take much more. No more guilt. No more being used. But certainly, no more Loki. The god ignored the archer's plea. Even the own archer's body ignored him. It arched toward Loki as the god began to add rubbing his bare chest. Clint groaned. He couldn't take this. His mind closed in, and Clint knew no more.

* * *

Clint came too when Loki gave a victorious shout that echoed through the warehouse. The god's cry covered Clint's mind as it utterly shattered. It was done. Done with guilt. Done with S.H.I.E.L.D. Done with Loki. Loki continued with a few more soft kisses on Clint's lips before focusing, fully, on the broken figure below him. He smirked as he realized that he had completely destroyed his pet. Slowly, he pulled back and let the man drop to the dirty floor. Loki laughed. He couldn't help it. This was what he had wanted all along. A broken archer. But knowing that it wasn't fully done, Loki leaned in.

"Just know, I wouldn't have been able do this unless some part of you wanted this," Loki whispered into Clint's ear. Clint shook as he felt Loki's warm breath pass by his ear. Loki walked away. Watching the archer for another minute or so, Loki began laughing. His laughter echoed through the warehouse long after he had already disappeared.

Clint sobbed in humiliation as he curled against himself. He was an Avenger. A highly trainer sniper. One of the best agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. Yet he had allowed this to happen. His cold skin wasn't warmed by the reappearance of his clothes. He curled tighter, barely noticing. He still felt naked. Ripped in half, destroyed, utterly ashamed. Another sob racked his body as tears began to show in his eyes. Not caring about the emotion, Clint let them fall. But before he fully drifted off into his shattered mind, he let out one last sob:

"Tasha, help."

* * *

**So? Did I do good? I hope so. Can you guess as to what I wanted to write? Drop me a review and we'll see next time how many people were right. ^_^**


	11. Chapter 11

**I like so meant to post this on Saturday but lost track of time. _ **

**So most people (who reviewed) asked me to put the mature chapter 10 up as a one shot... I'm debating wiether I want to do that or have an inbetween story where I can use that before I post the second half of this story. Well, I could also have it appear as a flash back in my second story. I don't know. What do you guys think? Well, no matter what, it won't be posted until this is done. And I have no idea when that will be. ^_^**

**Anyways, here is chapter 11!**

* * *

Natasha screamed and cursed, switching from English to Russian so fast it confused Bruce and Steve. She jumped to her feet and began to hit the instruments that had been tracking Clint but they just suddenly stopped. They had been so close at a location and then the blips paused before not returning all together. Bruce and Steve calmly watched as the assassin beat the machines and cursed some more. It took maybe three minutes of this before Tony came rushing back into the room.

"Did we fin-" he started asking but hesitated as he watched the deadly woman snap. Tony gulped as he looked down to Bruce. The other scientist turned to face him, but a wary eye was still kept on Natasha. "What happened?"

"Um. We stopped getting hits," Bruce mumbled. Tony 'ah'-ed as he faced Natasha once again. She was now playing with dials, switches and knobs. Tony winced when he heard a pop. Natasha had just broken off a piece of the tech. Her added curse and near squeal of anger made the men tense more.

"Natasha?" Steve worried-ly called to the S.H.I.E.L.D agent. She didn't respond to the super soldier. Just kept on messing with the instrument before her. It worried all of them that she didn't answer. She was normally so attentive. "Natasha."

"Hello? Anybody home?" Tony joked, expecting her to turn and lash out at him. Still, nothing. Sharing a look with the other two Avengers, he decided to push his luck. So what if it risked his life. That was something Tony was well known for. "Natasha? Natalia? Natalie? Nat? Natty? Natto? Shasa? Tash?"

Natasha paused as she listened to Tony's word play on her name. It almost made her smile. That was until she realized that Clint used many of them. After a moment, she spun on Tony. He didn't notice.

"Tasha?" he called. Natasha's eyes opened in surprise. Tony did not just use that nickname. The nickname that Clint always used. No one had time to react before Natasha's right fist pounded Tony's face. The billionaire dropped back several steps from the force before recovering. His hands quickly came to his face to survey the damage. "Shit! Christ, Natasha!"

"Don't ever call me 'Tasha'," Natasha growled as she death glared Tony. The billionaire nodded. He wasn't going to argue with her. Especially now that she seemed to be uber insane woman.

"Natasha, calm down," Bruce warned. Natasha and Tony looked to him. Both were slightly surprised to see him standing. Steve was also on his feet, waiting to see what would happen next. Natasha snorted before turning back to the machine. She hesitated when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Slowly she tilted her head to look back. Steve was there. He dropped his hand.

"We'll find him, Natasha," Steve mumbled. It took her a minute to realize the soldier was trying to calm her. Sighing, Natasha looked away and nodded. She knew he was right. Even if the others gave up, she'd keep going. Clint would be fine. All she had to do was believe.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"JARVIS is running facial recognition on nearly every video in the world," Tony softly remarked. Natasha and Steve looked to him, surprised. Steve remembered that same tech being used to find Loki and Clint once before. Natasha didn't even realize that Tony had that tech. Bruce snorted.

"You so would have lost," he noted. Tony glared at his science buddy.

"Hey, at least mine is still running!" Tony snapped. Bruce shrugged and left the room. Tony was fast on his heels. "Hey! You listen to me! I had a shot!"

Natasha smiled as she faced the ground. It felt nice having more than just Coulson watching their backs. Yes, there had been times that Hill or Fury showed their concern or they had been with a larger team but it was never like the care that Coulson and now the other Avengers were showing. Too bad Clint wasn't there to see it. Steve cleared his throat. The assassin raised her eyes to stare at the super soldier.

"We still have time. He'll be alright," Steve declared. Natasha nodded as she looked down the hall to Tony and Bruce. The two were having a rather heated argument. Her smile widened ever so slightly before she turned her gaze back to the man beside her.

"I know that now."

-line break-

Agent Jones frowned as he glanced down at the sheet before him again. He had read them over and over numerous times but still couldn't believe what it actually said. Looking around at other agents that were scattered about the general living room area, Jones wondered if he should talk to someone about the page. But, the last line had written that he couldn't. Who knew who would be on his side.

'Find Agent Clinton Barton and bring him in for questioning to this address.' Jones sighed. Could he really do that? Bring him in like a wanted criminal? Then again... Had it really been less than a week since the Manhattan incident? The same incident that also had the Helicarrier attacked and nearly killed over fifty agents?

"Agent Kenneth Jones?" demanded a new voice. Jones jerked up in surprise. His eyes quickly focusing on Agent Maria Hill. Gulping, he grabbed the order sheet before him and folded it closed. Hill took note of the panicked action but said nothing.

"Yes, sir? I mean, ma'am!" Jones responded. Hill tried to hide her smirk of amusement at the younger agent's expense. She did a good enough job for those in the room currently but if Fury or an older agent had seen, they would have known.

"I just heard that you got a private communication from a certain someone. Director Fury would like to know what it was about," Hill ordered. Jones frowned. Explicitly explained in his letter was the order to not let Fury know about what he was being told to do. He didn't respond. Hill smiled and she was suddenly flanked by at least four other agents. "You are going to be placed in the brig for a short time until you figure out your true loyalties."

"But, I haven't done anything!" The four men calmly walked over to his side and two of them grasped his arms. Together, they awkwardly dragged him to his feet. Jones didn't protest them, but he also didn't help them.

"You are withholding vital information from your direct commander and are following orders from a secondary command. That could make you considered a spy. Think about that with your time in the brig," Hill commented before cuffs were strapped to Jones's wrists and the four took him away. Hill sighed and looked down to the still folded sheet on the table. Smirking, she picked it up and quickly read it. "Shit."

Turning on her heel, Hill stormed out of the room. Rushing threw the halls of the Helicarrier, Hill quickly made it to Fury's office. Once there, for the first time that she ever remembered, she didn't knock. Hill simply barged in.

"Sir, you need to see this!" she told the Director. Fury glanced up quickly. Hill ignored his curious gaze and instead, slammed the paper down onto the desk. Ignoring her strange mood, Fury focused on the page before him.

"Fuck. How many of these were sent out?" he questioned. Hill frowned as she thought back to the report she had gotten only minutes before. She had glanced over it so quickly but she could still remember most of it. All she could hope was that she was right.

"At least thirty, sir. None sent to anyone working directly under you. And certainly only a handful that would actually have any chance of catching Barton," Hill reported. But then hesitated. Fury focused on her. He had noticed the pause. Sighing, she spoke again. "There was one name on the list that worried me."

"Who?" Hill hesitated again. Fury narrowed his gaze at her. Mentally he was willing her to report the news. Sighing deeply, as though to steel herself, Hill answered.

"Agent Sitwell." Fury frowned. He couldn't believe that such a good agent would turn against them. But then something rather important struck him.

"He works directly under me," Fury retorted. Hill frowned. It was true. Hill hadn't even thought of that as she dealt with as many of the others as possible. Jones isn't the only agent in the brig. He was just the only agent dumb enough to leave his orders behind.

"Only recently. He had been working under Agent Coulson." Fury nodded. That was true. Most of his orders to the new handler had been sent through Coulson until the man had died. Now Fury had been ordering many new agents directly. It was certainly a new experience.

"Why does he worry you?" Fury questioned, leaning back in his chair. Hill shifted. She knew that Fury didn't know much background on many agents that had recently been given direct orders from him, but she had figured that the older man would have seen the closeness of the two agents.

"Sir, Sitwell and Coulson were very close friends. I believe he may hold some resentment towards Barton for what happened," Hill stated. Fury nodded and glanced back at his computer. Hill sighed, guessing that maybe she assumed too much. His one good eye suddenly widened in shock before narrowing in anger.

"I hope you're wrong Agent Hill," Fury muttered before standing. Hill tilted her head in confusion. "Sitwell just left for the day. Six hours before the end of his shift."

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**So, was it good? Don't forget to review and please answer my debate! Until next chapter! Bye! ^_^**


	12. Chapter 12

**Meant to post this earlier today but I feel asleep. I have plans to finish this before Christmas but more times than not, my plans fail... Who knows what will happen. But, review and wish me luck. ^_^**

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For the second time in who knows how long now, Clint woke tied to a chair. His battered and abused mind pieced together what happened with Loki rather quickly but he couldn't remember how he had gotten here. Sighing deeply, Clint leaned his head against his chest. Remembering Loki made him want to regress back into his shattered mind but he held firm. This new situation just proved the point that blacking out was not good. He had no idea where he was or what was happening.

Shaking his head to clear it of negative thoughts, Clint focused on looking around. The room was dark but still bright enough to see all four walls. They were all grey and completely solid except for the door which was placed just barely out of sight behind him. Clint twisted as he looked about and noticed that, outside of the chair he was placed in, there was no furniture. So this wasn't an interrogation, or so he believed. He just hoped he wasn't going to be tortured. His mind would definitely not be able to handle it.

"Hello, Agent Barton," a voice suddenly called. Slightly surprised, Clint blanked his face of emotion and turned toward the source. Before him were four screens with blackened faces. Having seen these faces a few times before, Clint knew he was before the actual Council.

"Am I here for a specific reason?" Clint growled, trying to act as much like his normal self as possible. Even though he was scared to death, Clint braced his shattered mind with new warn walls. It wouldn't stand well against torture, but the Council may not be looking for that.

"Debrief on Manhattan," someone else answered. Clint frowned and shifted in his seat. He knew this was coming but it sure as hell wasn't supposed to be like this. Sullenly, he wiggled the chains on his arms. The Council sighed.

"So, is this new for everyone? Or just me?" Clint questioned.

"Just you," the lone female Council member warned. Now the archer could tell that this was going in a way they didn't like. He had to smirk at that. Even though he was mentally shattered, he could still act normal.

"Hmm. Does it have to do with the fact that you want to kill me?" Clint added. Someone groaned. "What! That's a valid question!"

"No," the female retorted. Her voice said otherwise. Clint frowned and hummed as he tried to focus on all of the members at once. "Will you answer our questions honestly?"

"Depends," Clint freely admitted. A Council member snarled and slammed his hands down on, what Clint assumed was, his desk. The other members' gazes shifted at their screens, showing they were now watching the angry man. Clint patiently waited.

"We should just kill him and be done with it! I knew that questioning a traitor would be a horrible idea!" the member cried, nearly shouting at the others.

"We agreed that if we had the chance, we would talk to him. Director Fury made a good point. He is a valuable asset and we have lost too many recently as it is. We need him," a Council member to Clint's right. The archer smirked and focused on the still angry member. Even though his face was blackened, Clint could tell he was fuming mad. It made the young agent feel better. But what really made him feel good was Fury, the man he had willingly shot in the chest, was defending him. Maybe Clint wasn't so evil after all.

"I never agreed to this! This is ridiculous! We know our agents could handle a little mind control-" the man began but stopped at Clint harsh bark of laughter.

"Little? Hell no, sirs! What Loki did was not a little mind control," Clint snapped, his body beginning to shiver as memories of blue tinged vision engulfed him. The Council was silent for a moment. "Professor Xavier's attempt at mind control was nothing like this."

"Agent Barton, if you wouldn't mind. Please tell us everything you remember beginning from the day that Loki appeared," the female member gently encouraged, her motherly instincts taking over her once harden exterior. Not one of the other members argued, they just waited. Clint was shaking harder now, his menial wall beginning to crack apart. He wouldn't be able to hold back the memories soon. All he could hope was to get through it all as fast as he could.

"That morning, Cou- Agent Coulson woke me up with a bucket of cold water. I can remember that so clearly in my mind because it's one of the last times I see him until... Breakfast was already finished. I had been up late the night before, hence why Coulson had to wake me. For lunch, the food was mostly shit so I just had a crappy little sandwich," Clint told them. He just about barely heard the intake of breath at his swear. Wincing, Clint decided he might want to watch that. "After eating, I reported what I saw the night before and then went off to my shift. About six hours later, the Tesseract started acting up. From my nes- post, the scientists were scurrying around like ants for a good half and hour before sounding the alarm.

"Fury came in after that. He made me report what had happened and I told him what I saw, nothing on our end," Clint explained just like before.

"On our end?" a Council member inquired. Clint hissed lightly at the interruption but nodded. "Please explain."

"Like I told Fury, the Tesseract is a door. Doors open both ways, someone on the other side had to have activated it. Loki. Loki activated it. And he came through. I can't remember much of the fighting. The staff made my memories of that too hazy. But I can clearly remember Loki..." Clint said and shuddered. His chains rattled slightly. **'You have heart.'** Clint heard echoing in his mind. "The pain from having the point stab near my heart had quickly dulled. But my mind was feeling as though a million hot pokers were jabbing into it. Each time I fought, it got worse. The pokers dug through my mind and began poking things loose and hiding it into a crevice in my head until finally, all I felt was my tactical ability to fight, my memories of my bow, and the need to follow orders left. Everything else was gone. I was gone. All I could do was follow Loki's orders.

"Sometimes the orders were verbal, other times it was discreetly hidden in conversation. The worst was hearing his voice in my head. He told me to find a safe place and then promptly forget the location after telling him. I was ordered to find agents and others who would be willing, or not, to help build Loki's war. Loki demanded that I tell him everything... And I couldn't stop," Clint was near a whisper by his last sentence. It was harder and harder to admit what had happened to him. "I tried to fight him. Tried to stop following him but I couldn't. None of my training helped. For two and a half days, I was a passenger inside my own head. Even after Nat's... Agent Romanoff's cognitive re calibration. I still wasn't fully in control but Loki never tried to retake me. It wasn't until after Loki left that I felt normalish again..."

"So, you admit that Loki can retake control of you!" the previously pissed off Council member pointed out with sharp, condescending tones. Clint shook his head.

"No. Stark had JARVIS scan me just after the battle and then Banner did it again after Loki left! The two scans showed different activity in my head... I can't explain it like them, but the three of us agree that I'm clear and we swear to talk to Thor when he comes back!" Clint pressed. The member scoffed.

"He hasn't reported in either! How can we be so sure we can trust his word either?" Clint stiffened.

"Thor fought beside us! Against his brother!"

"Adopted, as we learned from others. Are we so sure that they are close as they seem? Did we all forget New Mexico? Was that also not brotherly conflict?" the member mentioned. Clint froze as he heard the others mumble in agreement.

"We are not here to judge Thor Odinson. We are getting a debrief from Agent Barton," the female called loudly over the din of voices. The angry member scoffed. "Please, Agent Barton. You mentioned that during the actual battle that Loki never re took control. Are you certain of this? Is it possible that he has snuck in and is hiding in the back of your mind?"

Clint went to quickly answer, believing himself to be fully cleared of the god, but his voice caught. What if she was right? What if Loki was hiding in wait? That might explain him trying to shatter the archer's mind. Make it less of a fight to retake control. His body tensed as Clint mentally searched for the proper answer. He had no idea what to tell them.

"Well, agent?" the still furious member demanded. Clint hesitated again, his grayish blue eyes turning away from the screens.

"I have no idea."

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**Wow, just realized that I missed hitting 50 followers. But at least I caught 60. ^_^ Wonder if we can get to 100 before I finish... Who knows. I aso enjoy the 40 reviews and 20 favorites. ^_^**

**Anyways, please review to help me rush through finishing this and then I can post the second story. ^_^**


	13. Chapter 13

**Little late in posting this. But I wanted to make sure that I was two chapters ahead before posting. We are almost done! Don't think I can make it finished before Christmas, so I might try New Years. I have no idea how much longer this is going to be. _ But I just know that I am almost done.**

**Anywho, here is chapter 13!**

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Fury burst into the room with Natasha, Steve, Tony and Bruce quick on his heels. The people on the four screens jerked up to look at the intruder while the man in the chair tried to curl tighter on himself. Natasha was quick to slip over and work on undoing the cuffs holding the chains that kept Clint strapped down. Steve and Bruce went around front of the archer to check on his condition. They were surprised to see not even a bruise marring his now paled skin.

"What is the meaning of this?" a furious Council member shouted at the men and woman who entered the room. Tony and Fury both stood still, glaring at the four members. A few of them at least attempted to look sheepish in their blacked out images.

"I told you before. Agent Barton works for me. You were to not seek action against him until I deemed it necessary. This was not necessary," Fury snapped. Tony stiffened as his gaze shifted slightly to the director before going back to glaring at the Council. Clint sagged in his chair as Natasha fully released him. Steve placed a gentle hand on the archer's shoulder to help catch his balance. Clint just leaned into it more until he had a flashback to Loki. Then he shuddered and slammed back against the seat. All eyes focused on the agent. "Barton?"

"Just get me out of here, please," Clint softly pleaded. Fury nodded as Natasha came around front and gently began to try and help her partner stand. It was slow work as Clint kept on wincing and no one knew if it was from pain or something else. But Clint knew. Loki had certainly done a number on him if even Natasha's gentle caresses left him remembering the god. As soon as the two assassins left, with Bruce right behind them, Fury, Steve and Tony turned their attention back to the screens.

"This is ridiculous. Remember director, Barton may work for you, but you work for us," the angry member declared before logging off. Tony and Steve traded a glance. Did they really want the Avengers affiliated with these people then?

"What did you do to my agent?" Fury demanded. One of the other members signed off without a word. The other two looked at each other before looking back at the angered director.

"All we did was question him like a normal debrief. But, there was something wrong with him before. Agent Sitwell reported finding Agent Barton wandering around Harlem with no clear destination. With only slight gestures, Agent Sitwell easily led Agent Barton here. Barton didn't even struggle against Sitwell when he chained him to the chair. All your agent did was blankly stare at the floor," the female member reported. Fury noticed Steve and Tony shift.

"You haven't had him for the past twenty four hours?" Fury asked, knowing that Sitwell had only been after Clint for less then six. But he wanted to be sure that that wasn't a cover. The female shook her head.

"No. We've actually only questioned him for about two hours before you showed up. And most of that time, he seemed to be regressing into some very fearful memory," the other remaining member mentioned. Fury traded a look with the two Avengers. They seemed slightly worried. "Something is wrong with that agent. I'd watch him carefully."

"We'll take that under advisement," Steve retorted before nodding and spinning around. Tony nodded at the two, snorted and then spun after Steve as the soldier left the room. Fury hesitated.

"Director. I fear that the others may not be as forgiving about this. Watch yourself," the female warned before both screens shut off. Fury sighed deeply before his one good eye focused on the chair that Clint had been strapped to. He paused. Something was really off about all of this. The Council was either lying or something did happen to Clint before. Now the matter was what. What happened?

* * *

The Avengers piled into Fury's Quinjet with little fear. Clint had lead the way out, Natasha at his side the entire time. Bruce was next in the Quinjet, Steve following only a few seconds later. Tony was a minute behind, on his cell phone.

"Okay, Peps! Listen, I'm busy right now so don't hand over your phone! No, don't!" Tony cried into the phone, pausing after each sentence to hear her reply. The others didn't respond to Tony as he spoke to Pepper. "Hey, I'm on my way to the Helicarrier now. I'll call you when I can get to Malibu."

"You're gonna leave?" Natasha growled in shock. Tony frowned as he looked over the faces of his new friends. Everyone seemed just as upset, except Clint. He was basically staring at the floor. "We just got Barton back and you want to leave?"

"Feathers will be fine. I do have a company to help run, and press that wants answers for Manhattan. Do you really want Pepper to come and scream for not handing me over? Or better yet, do you want to deal with the press asking what happened?" Tony paused as he waited for someone to answer. No one did. Behind him, Fury slowly entered the Quinjet and the doors closed. "Thought not. Look, Legolas will be fine in your hands. If you really need me, just call. Right now though, Pepper needs me more."

"The press does need questions answered. And Stark is the best man for telling fucked up stories," Fury added, making nearly all the attention turn to him. "Not much more he can do to help anyways."

"Thanks," Tony called. He smiled at the director before the full statement hit him. "Wait, are you calling me useless?"

The group chuckled lightly at the poor genius. Well, everyone but Clint. The archer had taken this distraction to curl up on himself. All he wanted was to go back to HQ and then go hide in the vents. He barely heard that Tony was leaving. Nor did he hear the conversation after. He just kind of faded out, like he had done before. But this one time, Clint knew he'd be safe. Natasha would protect him.

"Clint?" Natasha whispered when she looked back to her partner. His bluish green eyes were distantly staring at the ground. But they didn't seem to be actually seeing the ground. They just faced that general direction. When he didn't do anything in response, Natasha sat down on her knees in front of him. "Clint?

"Is he okay?" Steve questioned softly as he moved closer to the two assassins. Natasha shook her head no. No one said a word for a minute as they waited for Clint to react. Finally, Natasha placed a hand on his knee. All he did was twitch away from her hand.

"I think he's blocking us out," Fury noted. Natasha frowned. She never knew the archer to do that. But, he did show all the signs. It worried her more then before. Clint was trained. Trained to not black out like this. He was trained for torture. Hell, even his past trained him well for something like this. Yet here he was. Sitting on a Quinjet, surrounded by friends, tuning them all out. Natasha looked up to the others, fighting back tears.

"They had to have done something to him. Something really bad."

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**Okay, there was chapter 13! Yay. Remember, reviews help me write faster. Please help me finish this story before one of the two upcoming holidays. ^_^**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, I am so happy for all the reviews I got. They did spur me on and now this story is complete. Actually, this isn't the last chapter yet. I still have two more. But for me it is done, so I can now focus on story two! ^_^ So I guess I can finish this one for Christmas! Lucky me, and you readers! ^_^**

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When the Quinjet landed on the Helicarrier, it was surprisingly Tony that was the first to leave. He normally hung out in the jet for a few extra minutes, even if he had somewhere to be. But the others figured Pepper put a good scare in him and so they ignored his unusual behavior and focused on the other person acting strangely.

Clint, another who normally stayed longer in the Quinjet, was the second person to leave. Without a word, he just got up and took off. Not really knowing where he was going, Natasha was quick on his heels. She didn't say a word to him. Just followed.

Steve and Bruce waited in the Quinjet with Fury for an extra minute. Fury stared at the receding backs of his top assassins. He was worried. Wouldn't admit to it. But he was. Of all the agents to have something like this happen too, Fury wondered why it had to be Clint. The director knew of the young man's past. Knew of every bit of pain that the archer had gone through. And that was why he didn't blame Clint for anything that happened.

"Director Fury?" Steve softly asked. Fury looked to the living legend. His normally sharp glare was now sporting a concerned glance. Steve sighed. "What happens now?"

"We talk to him. Find out what happened and get him over it. The Avengers need Hawkeye back," Fury admitted. Steve nodded as he looked down the hall that Clint had vanished from. Fury followed his gaze. Standing at the end of the hallway was an agent who had lost his girlfriend in the Helicarrier attack. Fury tensed as he watched the agent. Bruce noticed the man staring after Clint as well.

"Is there somewhere else we can take him? I mean, we all did head to Miami for a reason," Bruce pointed out.

"Barton has an apartment near Brooklyn. Romanoff will more than likely bring him there soon," Fury responded. Bruce nodded. He wasn't sure about going to a place that S.H.I.E.L.D knew about, but it would be better for Clint to return to somewhere he knew. Fury groaned lightly when the new found silence was broken by a loud buzzing noise. Steve and Bruce focused on the director as he dug a phone out of his pocket. "What?"

"Sir, are you back at HQ?" Hill's voice sounded back, without a hint of hesitation at his biting voice. Fury frowned.

"Yes. Still in the landing bay, why?" he answered. Hill sighed in what sounded like relief. Surprised, Fury left the Quinjet and took off toward the bridge.

"Agent Sitwell would like to speak to you," she replied. Fury growled lightly. Oh boy, did he want to have a few words with Sitwell.

"On my way to the bridge now," was he last statement before hanging up and vanishing down a different hallway then the assassins went. Left behind, and still on the Quinjet, were Steve and Bruce. They both traded a look, wondering where to go from there. Neither one wanted to go find Tony. They also didn't know where Clint and Natasha were headed. So they could either wander around aimlessly or follow Fury. But for now, they just got off the Quinjet and looked around, hopelessly lost.

* * *

"I don't need a babysitter," Clint grounded out as he disappeared into his small closet of a room on the Helicarrier. Natasha sighed, rubbing her bruising arm that she had used to catch the door before it slammed closed. She waited by the doorway, knowing there wasn't much room in the whole place for both of them. Clint was heading toward the bed that was on the far side of the room. All he wanted to do right now was lay down in the bed, fall asleep and never wake up.

"Clint, what happened?" Natasha asked when she watched her partner flop depressingly down onto his hard mattress. She winced was she heard the thump of something hitting a hard surface. When Clint reached up to his forehead, she guessed he must of hit it on the wall which was acting like a headrest.

"Don't want to talk about it," Clint mumbled into his pillow as a new headache began to sprout. He sighed in content at the pain. As much as he wasn't a narcissus or anything. It was just that focusing on the pain meant he didn't think about his guilt for following Loki. Natasha moved further into the room and shut the door. Clint slowly moved one eye out of the pillow to look at her. She had her hands on her hips, her right foot was tapping, and her eyes were narrowed. He sighed again. "Nat, please. Just drop it."

"You should tell me the problems. It will help," she countered. Clint frowned. He used to use those words on her whenever she dropped into a memory from the Red Room. Having them tossed back at him made him realize how annoying they were. With a deep groan, he rolled onto his side, facing her.

"Did it ever help you?" he questioned, believing the answer to be a negative. He was more than stunned when she nodded in confirmation. Growling at her positive response, Clint sat up. "What do you want to hear?"

"What happened with the Council?" she pressed. Clint snorted. That was the easy one. If that was all she wanted, he'd be fine telling her that.

"Questions to be answered. Just a normal debrief," he snapped. Natasha's eyes narrowed even further. She could tell there was something else. But how could she get at it if he wasn't going to willingly give up the answer?

"What about before them? Did Sitwell do anything to you?" Clint chuckled darkly. All he could think about was Loki. What the god had told him. And even worse, what the god had done to him.

"No."

"You were missing for a little over eleven hours or so. What happened?" she added. Clint stiffened. When he didn't speak for another few seconds, Natasha grew worried. "Clint?"

He still didn't speak. Wondering if he disappeared into his mind, Natasha stepped forward. Clint didn't react. Frowning, she kneeled down in front of him. He didn't even twitch. Sighing, she placed a hand on his knee. She didn't even a second to comprehend what happened next before she found herself on the floor, Clint on top of her and a sharp pain in her chin. Clint's grey eyes were dark in anger and something else. Something that looked like shame.

"Clint?" Natasha called before his hands suddenly found themselves on her throat. As he began to squeeze the life out of her, Natasha tried to push him off. She scratched at his arms, reached for his face, and tried to get her legs up in between them. Nothing helped, his archery arms were stronger than her. Tears forming in the corner of her eyes, Natasha gasped. She was now beginning to blackout. "Clint!"

Clint came too slowly. When he noticed he was looking down at Natasha, he frowned. Then he spotted his hands tightly grasping her neck. Before he could back up, her eyes began to roll back into her head. Crying out in anguish, Clint nearly leaped off his partner. Once she started coughing, Clint rushed to the door and left.

"Cl-int."

* * *

Clint rushed through the busy halls of the Helicarrier as he tried to escape the idea that he was trying to kill Natasha. His grief was near overwhelming as he blindly shifted down hallways until he began to grow slightly tired. Growling angrily at himself, Clint focused on his tired frame as he slowed down to walking. Normally, the archer could run laps around the large 'boat.' But right now, he was still recovering from Loki's mind control, the battle and now even the torture he had endured. He was not only physically exhausted but he was mentally exhausted. All Clint wanted to do now was find a dark corner, curl up in it, fall asleep and never wake up.

"Sir, I swear, they told me if I didn't get him, they'd kill him! I was trying to save him!" Sitwell's voice rang down the halls to Clint's ears. Frowning, Clint looked to where the sound could be traveling from. Just above him was a vent cover. Staring at it, the archer ran through his mental map of the whole system. It took him only moments to realize this vent was connected directly to the one in Fury's office.

"So that's how the rumors start," Clint muttered to himself before jumping up to knock the cover off enough so he could grab the ledge. Jumping again, he caught the side and pulled up. His just about made it in the system and replaced the cover by the time Natasha rushed by looking rather flustered. Clint scowled at his partner before turning down the small space towards the director's room.

"What do you mean by that, Agent?" Fury growled low as Clint neared. Noting that he hadn't missed anything, the archer assumed that Sitwell's earlier comment must have made the director hesitate. It was a little surprising considering nothing normally made the hardened director pause.

"I mean that my orders from the Council stated that he was to come in alive while everyone's else read alive or dead. I was protecting him, I swear," Sitwell told him. Clint scoffed until he realized he didn't remember Sitwell finding him. Nor could he remember the older agent handing him over to the Council. He had blacked out after Loki and then came too before the Council. _'Maybe he was protecting me.' _Clint thought to himself.

"Oh? Protecting him by turning him over to the people who, only hours before, ordered his death?" Fury calmly asked. Clint heard Sitwell sharply intake a breath.

"I didn't know. They didn't inform me of that," Sitwell responded. Clint frowned. He couldn't understand why the agent's orders were so different from what the Council so obviously wanted. "But sir, something happened to Barton before I reached him. He was wandering around Harlem in an almost comatose-like state. Hell, I was able to walk right up to him and place my hand on his shoulder without him even looking in my direction."

"That can't be right."

"Sir, I swear. Barton was not himself when I brought him before the Council. It was almost like he had been tortured," Sitwell reported. Clint shook his head of memories as images of Loki filled his mind. He didn't want to hear any more of this. That was enough. The archer knew what happened and really didn't want to talk about it.

Slowly and silently, Clint backed his way out of the vent shaft. As soon as he was back to where he started from, Clint lightly kicked open the cover and shimed out. He dropped to the floor and just about put the cover in place when he heard them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the bastard traitor. Looks like we might get our revenge after all." Clint sighed as he leaned his forehead against the cold metal wall before him. He knew the voice was an agent who had lost his partner during the attack. The same attack that Clint initiated. He was screwed.

"Shit."

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**So, can anyone guess why I had to have Tony leave? Drop me a review and answer. Reviewing helps me writing and even though I've announced that this story is soon to be over, I do have others that these reviews can help spur. Anyways, review, favorite, follow, whatever! See you next chapter! ^_^**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow, 52 reviews. You guys rock! Bet none of you can wait for this chapter. ^_^ Well, here you go.**

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They ended up in a dusty, unused hallway with a door at the end. Clint barely remembered getting there, mostly due to the hard knocks to his head. Though he found it funny, the one group he'd willingly follow for torture is the only group that actually attacked him like he'd run. As they went further down the hall, and closer to the door, the four agents who had grabbed him began to get antsy.

"Jeff, you sure we can do this?" one asked. Clint smirked. Now they were wondering? Not before?

"We'll be fine Chris. Just keep quite," Jeff responded. "Sides, we're only getting a little payback."

"Yeah, not like we'll kill him like he did our friends," someone else added. Clint winced at the harsh tone but knew he deserved it. Hell, he'd be glad if they killed him. It would certainly end the guilt that was going to be slowly killing him.

"Guys, stop saying names!" the fourth one called as he opened the door at the end of the hall. Clint slipped inside without any prodding. The four hesitated now.

"Anyone feel that this may be a trap?" Chris spoke up before they all agreed they were being paranoid. With a vocal negative, the four men entered and found Clint kneeling on the ground with his hands clasped behind his back. Again, they hesitated. "We sure?"

"Agent Colleen Fistberg," Clint suddenly recited. Jeff stepped forward and hit the archer's cheek with a powerful right hook. Clint fell the to ground and slowly worked his way back up, the bruise already appearing.

"Don't you ever say her name," Jeff ordered. Clint nodded but knew that he'd say it again if the agent hesitated. Chris then stepped forward and sent a harsh left jab. All men heard a sharp crack. Clint bit his tongue to hold back a cry of pain. When Chris backed away, the blood began to stream down the archer's face. That made the four agents trade a glance before they descended onto Clint.

Punches, kicks, slaps and stomps fell onto Clint so fast that he dropped to his side and instinctively curled up on himself. That just seemed to enrage the men more. Soon, a lot of the attacks focused on Clint's left side until he unfurled and they could get at his stomach. Cracks echoed through the room as they began breaking bones and all too soon, the group turned Clint into a writhing mess.

Blood seeped from his nose, split lip, his tear duct on his right eye, and from his left ear. Clint could barely see around the swelling eyes and his hearing had diminished. He knew the swelling would die down within a few days, so he wasn't worried that it would effect his future. The four had also thankfully missed hitting his fingers. So he could still use his bow and arrows. That fact alone had Clint grimace into a smile.

"What the fuck you smiling about?" one of the four demanded. Clint recognized his voice as the one who said to stop calling out names earlier. "Fucking traitor."

"Hey, we missed his hands," Chris pointed out. Clint froze. They wouldn't. They couldn't. Greyish blue eyes focused on Jeff. The agent gave the archer an evil smile.

"Break them, break them so he can never fire again," Jeff stated. Chris and the other two grinned like idiots before they converged. Clint tensed as they reached for his hands. Chris was just about touching them when-

BANG!

The door slammed open. All five men focused on the suddenly bright area. There, standing in a halo of light, was an extremely pissed off, protective Russian assassin. Clint groaned lightly as he realized that Natasha was going to report this but, deep in the back of his mind, he was glad she got there before they broke his fingers. Slowly, curiously, Clint's gaze shifted to his tormentors. They were all frozen in fear at being caught. Especially by one who was, seemingly, unaffected by the events.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Natasha growled even though she already knew the answer. She could see the blood clearly. The rapidly forming bruises made he clench her fists together. Clint gave her a meek smile. Her stare hardened into a glare. That was when he realized he was in just as much shit as the four who had been beating him. Of course Natasha would pick up on the fact that he had let them pound him to pieces. Why couldn't it have been someone else that found them? "Well?"

"Uh..." Chris began before Natasha shifted to face him. Clint tried not to laugh as he heard the poor agent's voice catch in his throat.

"Barton fell," Jeff suddenly answered. Everyone's focus turned to him. He looked sweaty and nervous but still stood tall against Natasha's evil look. "Yeah, we saw him fall out of the vents!"

"Okay. And what were you planning on doing with him?" Natasha questioned, the heat in her voice turning curious. Clint stared at his partner, reading silent signs. She was still tense but gave off on air or relaxation. Her fists were clenching and un-clenching as she thought of what to do next. Green eyes were still hardened but the glare was now replaced with a softer gaze. Natasha was toying with them. No, not Natasha. Black Widow.

"We were... Um," Jeff paused as he tried to quickly think of a good reason for the four of them to still be standing over a clearly injured agent.

"We were getting ready to bring him to Medical!" one of the still unnamed agents lied. Black Widow smiled as she listened to the lie. She had been standing behind the door for a while. In the while, she had heard them mention breaking Clint's fingers. There was no way she'd allow that.

"Oh. Cause I thought I heard mention of breaking his fingers," Black Widow cooed as she stepped into the room. The four agents stepped back away from her. Now they weren't just scared, they were petrified. "Did I hear correctly?"

No one answered. Whether it was because of fear of Black Widow or that they had lost their voices, Clint didn't know. All he knew was that his partner's eyes narrowed once again and she slowly looked down to stare at Clint.

"Clint?" she asked him. Not wanting to admit to anything, Clint looked away from her. Black Widow nodded. "I see. You four, run. Now, before I call the other Avengers down on your asses!"

The group followed her command so fast that her red hair swayed as they ran past. Clint smirked as he turned and laid down on his back. He was partly relieved that they now couldn't attack his fingers, but he was upset that the beating was over. He deserved it. Deserved every broken bone, every cut, and every bruise. It all helped him see how truly evil he was for attacking his friends and co-workers.

A sudden gentle touch on his right shoulder made Clint jerk. The touch vanished quickly. Turning his grey blue eyes back toward the source, he saw Natasha with a worried gaze looking down at him. She was on her knees beside him.

"Hey," he whispered to her. Natasha gave him a very soft smile. Then it transformed to something else. Clint barely had a second to try and figure it out before she sharply punched his arm. "Ow! What the hell Tasha?"

"You idiot! Why did you let them do this to you?" she called. Clint frowned but didn't answer. It was too hard to try and explain it to her. Hell, it was hard just to admit that he had allowed himself to be beaten up. "I've seen you take on over twenty men. Why couldn't you take on those four bullies?"

"Cause I deserve it! Tasha, I killed our co-workers! I killed their friends, family! I betrayed S.H.I.E.L.D!" Clint screamed. Natasha sat back in surprise. She couldn't believe that he believed what he was saying. Slowly, the archer's eyes began to tear. "Tasha, I killed Coulson."

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**One more chapter and then we are done. Remember to please review and I might even add the next story when I post chapter 16. ^_^**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well here it is. The end of this wonderful story. Bet you all can't wait until I post the next story? ^_^ I'll be posting that as soon as I finish with this one so be on the look out. Until then, hope you enjoyed.**

* * *

"Director Fury?" declared a sharp voice. Fury looked up from his paperwork concerned. He had previously told Hill that he didn't want to be disturbed yet here someone was. As his one eye focused on the intruder, he was taken aback. There stood Natasha, holding Clint up by supporting his waist. The injuries littering his body made the old agent wonder what the hell had happened since they returned. It was worrying that this had happened on the Helicarrier, let alone on his time there. Clint had somehow gotten out injury free from some type of torture and dealing with the Council. But returning to a place considered home, the archer suddenly looked like hell cooled over.

"What happened?" Fury demanded, concerned. Natasha briefly looked down at Clint. The archer turned to stare at the floor. There was no way he was going to allow those other agents to get in trouble for trying to get revenge. Even if it cost him his job, or even his life, Clint would never give in. Fury waited. Natasha growled lightly at Clint's silence. Seeing as her partner wasn't going to answer, she would.

"I'm bringing Clint to his apartment. Seems safer there," Natasha stated. Fury glanced at Clint. It took him only a few seconds to analyze all the damage. As horrifying as it seemed, Fury could tell that Medical wouldn't be able to due much for him that Natasha didn't already know about fixing. With a deep sigh, he agreed.

"I'm going to ban Barton from the Helicarrier until all this is sorted out. When we finally sort out all those who would cause him trouble, then he'll be allowed back," Fury responded. Natasha nodded, agreeing full heartedly. With her business done, she slowly turned Clint around and the two assassins started to leave.

"I don't need to be banned," Clint whined as they got closer to the door. Natasha shook her head as Fury stood taller, preparing to verbally fight with the archer.

"Apparently you do if you're gonna allow other agents to beat the shit out of you," Natasha mentioned as the two disappeared around the corner. Fury sighed as he watched them. It took an extra two minutes for him to realize what Natasha had said. Cursing, Fury went back to his desk and got ready to call Hill.

"Hill? Get me a list of everyone who would be affected by the Helicarrier attack. Someone got a hold of Barton and I want to know who," he didn't even wait for his second in command to respond before he ended his link. Looking back to his door, Fury remembered all the damage done to his top agent. "Fuck."

* * *

Natasha and Clint left the Helicarrier without meeting a single other person. Figuring it was thanks to Fury or Hill, Natasha didn't even question it. She just continued down her path, intent on getting Clint to safety. Once on a completely refueled Quinjet, Natasha dropped Clint off in the co-pilot's chair before setting herself up in the pilot's. She began switching different things as she prepared to take off. Not knowing how to fly as well as Clint, it took her longer than really needed to work out what needed to be done.

"Were you going to let us know that you and Clint were leaving?" a voice called amused. Natasha looked over her shoulder to see Bruce and Steve standing behind her chair. Sighing, she continued prepping the Quinjet. Steve had his hands on his hips and a slightly curious look on his face. Bruce had his arms crossed his chest and a small smirk gracing his lips. They both figured that Clint had probably asked to leave.

"I don't need babysitters, you know," Clint again whined when he heard the new added group of people. Natasha scoffed. But before she could respond, someone else spoke first.

"We aren't babysitting, we're making sure you're okay. We have been worried about you," Steve explained. This time it was Clint who scoffed. Natasha slowly started the engines and prepared to take off. None of the others were paying attention to her now.

"Yeah, sure," Clint mocked, falling into a deep depression as he curled up in his seat. Steve moved forward and spun the chair around. The two gasped at their first true glance at Clint's new appearance.

"Jesus, Clint, what happened?" Bruce asked as he moved closer to examine the damage. As the doctor started fussing with the injuries, Clint winced and tried to turn his chair back around. Sadly, Steve hadn't let go, so he held the seat firm. Natasha grinned, knowing that the others would have her back. Very carefully, she took off. None of the guys even noticed.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Clint hissed.

"This is the very definition of not fine, Clint," Bruce moaned as he noted that the archer's nose was broken. He didn't report it, figuring everyone but Steve knew. But as Bruce examined the damage, he realized that the Other Guy wasn't trying to come out. Hiding his surprise, the scientist realized that though he was angry, he was still calm.

"What happened?" Steve pressed. Clint twisted away from Bruce before sliding out of his seat and walking (well limping actually) away. This time, Bruce felt the well known push. He pushed back.

"I told you, nothing."

"Clint, you're limping! This isn't nothing!" Bruce demanded. His brown eyes gazing at the archer's haggard form. Steve released the chair and walked toward Clint. The agent winced but stood his ground.

"Clint, please, just tell us."

"He got attacked by four other agents," Natasha answered for her silent partner after a minute. Clint glared at her when Steve stiffened and Bruce's eyes flashed green. She didn't add that he could have taken them. Nor did she mention that Clint had allowed them to attack him.

"Jeez, they did this to you?" Bruce questioned, his voice showing that he was clearly trying to hold the Other Guy back. Clint's greyish blue eyes hardened and narrowed into slits as he looked back to the others.

"What do you care? You barely know me, and most of that time that you did, I was trying to kill you!" Clint snapped. Steve's eyes now narrowed as Bruce flinched back. Neither was going to accept that. But it really did show something was wrong with Clint if he was pushing at Bruce's already fragile calm.

"You were under Loki's control. You weren't yourself. Besides, you helped take him down," Steve told him. Clint scoffed and looked away. He remembered the battle. At the time he didn't remember what he had done. But now, it was different. The memories were sharp in his mind.

"I killed so many people. Injured even more. I don't think helping defeat Loki can save me now," Clint muttered.

SMACK!

Clint paused as his one good cheek began to turn bright red. He hadn't expected that. Nor had the one who delivered it. Bruce stood before him, staring at his hand in wonder. He hadn't meant to hit Clint. All he did was react. And, that reaction had made him slap the archer, hard. Getting over his surprise faster then Clint, Bruce focused on the man.

"You are so dumb! Loki made you do all of that! He made you attack all those people! He was the one who first put you in that position! Yes, you can still feel guilty. It's understandable. I would know that more than anyone. But, you can't go around thinking that people beating you up for revenge is okay!" Bruce sharply declared. Clint stared at him in shock. Thankfully he wasn't the only one. Steve and Natasha were even stunned. "Clint. It's not okay. You've been through so much this past couple of weeks. Just take some time. Let us help you."

"What if I don't deserve help?" Clint whispered so softly that Bruce almost missed it. "What if Loki never ordered me to kill all those people? What if I did it all on my own? Would you still be willing to help?"

Bruce stood stock still as he processed what Clint said. Steve frowned as he sorted through the words, wondering where the archer had gotten these insane ideas. Natasha sifted the Quinjet to autopilot before turning and walking into the cabin. She quickly reached Clint and pulled him close. Clint sighed deeply as he rested his head against her neck.

"We will always be here to help."

And with that, Clint began sobbing. He leaned in closer to his partner and broke down. Hot tears rapidly wetted Natasha's outfit as he cried into her shoulder. He was done. Done trying to be strong. Done holding back his fear. Done hiding his overwhelming sadness. But most of all, he was done being alone.

_**The End**_

_**For now.**_


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